Venezuelans march over anti-Chavez TV station

Thousands of Venezuelans participated in protests and rallies Saturday to support or condemn an opposition-aligned TV station that President Hugo Chavez’s government has threatened to close.

Opposition protesters marched to Venezuela’s journalists association, chanting “Journalism is freedom!” Thousands of Chavez supporters, meanwhile, marched to the National Assembly in a show of support for the Chavez government’s actions.

In recent weeks, the government has stepped up its confrontation with Globovision -- the only strongly anti-Chavez channel still on the open airwaves. The telecommunications regulator has opened four investigations of the station for presumed violations, and the tax agency has ordered the station to pay $4.2 million in fines and back taxes that allegedly went undeclared in 2002 and 2003.