Venezuela Students Spur Protest Movement

Opposition members protest against Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez's decision to take an opposition-aligned TV station Radio Caracas Televison, RCTV, off the air in Caracas, Sunday, June 3, 2007. RCTV went off the air last May 28. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) (Fernando Llano - AP)

"We're protesting not only for one channel, but for what it represents _ for free speech," said Charlotte Alagna, a 25-year-old student at Central University of Venezuela.

She said she is concerned about eroding freedoms _ and that Chavez could threaten the academic autonomy of public universities like hers.

While most student protesters are from middle-class and wealthier families, others such as Alagna come from working-class areas. They've grown up during the presidency of Chavez, who took office in 1999 and remains popular, especially among the poor.

Many students were still in high school when Chavez was briefly ousted in a failed 2002 coup. Ever since, Chavez has accused opposition politicians of backing attempts to overthrow his government.

Chavez's former vice president Jose Vicente Rangel, however, said he does not believe the students are "engaged in coup-plotting."

"That student opposition must be differentiated from the old politics of the opposition ... the terrorist and coup-mongering opposition," Rangel said.

Chavez also has supporters on campus.

Jorge Cordero, an 18-year-old at Central University, said the protesters seem to be defending media companies.

"They aren't talking about the people's freedom of expression," he said, echoing Chavez's view that Venezuela is democratizing the airwaves by turning over RCTV's signal to a new state-supported public channel.