Venezuelan court rules for TV station

Venezuela's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an opposition-aligned TV channel will remain on cable for now, acting just hours before a government-set deadline that could have yanked it from the cable lineup.

The Supreme Court of Justice said in a statement that it suspended the telecommunications commission's order for Radio Caracas Television and other cable channels to register as national producers, a category that would require them to interrupt programming to carry some of President Hugo Chavez's speeches.

With its ruling, the court _ which was selected by the Chavez-dominated National Assembly _ defused a political standoff and opened the way for it to consider which cable and satellite channels should be bound by rules requiring domestic stations to transmit government-mandated programming and commercials.

The court's constitutional branch said it decided to take up the case, brought by cable and satellite TV channels, in part due to a lack of regulations clearly defining "national audiovisual production services" and which channels fall under that classification.

The channel RCTV International, which has begun transmitting by cable after being forced off the broadcast airwaves, says it disagrees with the requirement to register and intends to be an "international channel." The telecommunications commission had given the channel until midnight Wednesday to register.

Venezuela's Chamber of Subscription Television asked the court to intervene and clarify which stations are considered national producers and what requirements they face, chamber president Mario Seijas said.

He said other channels could be affected and they should not have "to guess if they are obliged to register" or not.

Hours before the court decision, top RCTV executive Marcel Granier accused the government of abusing its power.

"We're talking about crimes against human rights here," Granier said. "They are crimes for which they're going to have to pay. ... We'll see how far it goes."

Telecommunications Minister Jesse Chacon told Union Radio that RCTV, even as a cable channel, is still clearly a "national audiovisual production service" and is required to be properly registered.

Chacon said if RCTV refuses, "it is more for political than economic reasons."

"It's false that the government is taking it off cable," Chacon told Union Radio. "The only thing it has to do is register itself to be able to be on cable."

The country's oldest private channel, RCTV began transmitting on cable and satellite on July 16, about six weeks after Chavez forced the station off the air by refusing to renew its broadcast license. The president accused the station of supporting a 2002 coup that briefly removed him from power and of repeatedly violating broadcast laws, replacing RCTV with a public-service channel.

Many of Venezuela's media outlets are still privately owned and critical of Chavez. But the RCTV case has drawn criticism because only one other major TV broadcaster, Globovision, remains firmly sided with the opposition.

Chavez, who insists freedom of expression is being fully respected, regularly takes over the airwaves for marathon speeches, requiring channels to carry portions of them in what is known under Venezuelan law as a "national network."

RCTV said being forced to carry such mandatory programming would make its operations "economically nonviable."

While other nations have similar provisions, few presidents use it as often as Chavez.

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Associated Press Writer Tales Azzoni contributed to this report from Sao Paulo, Brazil.