Escenarios de comunicación en una Venezuela polarizada: del Grupo Cisneros a la Ley Resorte

Abstract

This article reviews events in Venezuela in recent years, with special attention given to the Cisneros Group which, supported by a successful business network, has become a transnational empire with investments throughout the world. The development of companies of the Cisneros Group serves as an example of the link that was traditionally established in Venezuela between the mass media and the most wealthy families and power groups. The situation has become extremely tense in recent years, with a polarisation into two extremes in favour of, or against, president Hugo Chavez, who accuses the mass media of forming a direct and persistent opposition to him. On the other hand, the mass media themselves have made denunciations to international bodies and the President and his allies are accused of direct and indirect attacks against these media and against freedom of expression in general. Similarly, the article deals with one of the most interesting aspects related to the panorama of the mass media in Venezuela in recent times, the approval of the Law of Social Responsibility on Radio and Television at the end of 2004.