May 2007 RCTV protests
| 2007 RCTV protests | |||
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Venezuelans rally in support of RCTV.
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| Date | 19 May – June 2007 | ||
| Location |  Venezuela |
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The RCTV protests were a series of protests in Venezuela that began in the middle of May 2007. The cause of the protests was the refusal by the government to renew the broadcasting license of Venezuela's oldest private television network, Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), instead creating a new public service channel called TVes which began operations on May 28, the same day RCTV's license expired. RCTV had Venezuela's largest viewing audience, with 10 million of the country's 26 million people viewing its shows and soap operas.
On April 11, 2002, supporters and opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez clashed at the Miraflores Palace during a coup d'état attempt. According to BBC News, a sector of the Armed Forces asked for Chávez's resignation, holding him responsible for a massacre during the demonstrations. Commander of the Army Lucas Rincón Romero reported in a nationwide broadcast that Chávez had resigned his presidency, a charge Chávez would later deny. Chávez was taken to a military base while Fedecámaras president Pedro Carmona was appointed as the transitional President of Venezuela, following mass protests and a general strike by his opponents.
Carmona's first decree reversed the major social and economic policies that comprised Chávez's "Bolivarian Revolution", and dissolved both the National Assembly and the Venezuelan judiciary, while reverting the nation's name back to República de Venezuela.
Carmona's decrees were followed by pro-Chávez uprisings across Caracas. Responding to these disturbances, Venezuelan soldiers loyal to Chávez called for massive popular support for a counter-coup. The military frustrated from not having received formal proof of Chavez's resignation withdrew their support of Carmona's presidency. Carmona's regime was toppled, and Chávez resumed his presidency on the night of Saturday 13 April 2002.
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Wikipedia