VOA and Martí Coverage of Venezuela Crisis Reaching Audiences Throughout Latin America
Despite the Venezuelan government’s threats to international media, the Voice of America and the Martís are providing unvarnished information about the persisting unrest.
VOA ’s Spanish Service is reporting from the streets of Caracas, on Capitol Hill and from the diaspora communities in Miami and New York, and has been a mainstay provider for affiliates in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador, Colombia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras, Bolivia, and Costa Rica. In Venezuela itself, VOA is reaching audiences through in-country radio and television affiliates, satellite programming and online content. An indication of the high interest in the reporting was made clear when a recent posting on voanoticias.com was retweeted 800 times within a few hours. As this video clip shows, protestors and opposition leaders applaud VOA’s coverage.
In Cuba, audiences rely on the Martís for reliable and unbiased information on the latest developments in Venezuela. Coverage includes daily updates from Caracas, reaction from international and regional leadership, and high profile interviews with opposition leaders such as Maria Corina and retired General Angel Vivas who made international headlines by arming and entrenching himself in his house to avoid arrest. TV Martí is airing one-hour specials on the crisis in addition to regular reports on TV Marti’s weekday news program Antena Live. Martinocias.com has devoted a special section of the website to coverage of the crisis, with a compilation of video, audio and text.
Unbiased updates on the crisis are particularly difficult to find in Cuba, given the close alliance between the Castro and Maduro administrations. In Cuban government controlled news reports, the protests have been described as “disturbances by fascists.” State-run media have concentrated coverage on last week’s visit by Raul Castro to Caracas and the anniversary of the death of Hugo Chavez.