Protesters face showdown with Chavez over closure of TV station

This is an update to my earlier post.

Angry Venezuelan protesters and journalists on Sunday headed for a showdown with the government of President Hugo Chavez, which is about to take over the country's largest private television station.

RCTV is set to end its broadcasts at midnight Sunday after the government refused to renew its license.

But employees have vowed to continued to occupy the studios overnight, possibly to hinder their handover to the government on Monday.

"A lot of us will sleep here in the station," said news director Manuel Gago.

"This is Venezuela, not Cuba!" chanted protesters rallying outside RCTV studios Saturday. "We have what it takes to fight!"

The rally was reminiscent of protests that led to Chavez's two-day ouster in a 2002 coup, for which he partly blames RCTV.

Chavez has not forgotten RCTV's cheerleading for that brief coup, and vowed soon after he was re-elected in late 2006 to close the station down.

I'm also curious why it seems today leaders feel the need to go beyond "strong" to "controlling". Its everywhere you look.

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