Latest from the media battlefield of Venezuela:

Addressing an opposition conference organized by the opposition CEDICE group in Caracas, Mexican writer, Jorge Castaneda dubs views on the media expressed by Presidents Hugo Chavez, Rafael Correa (Ecuador) and Evo Morales (Bolivia) as anachronisms and ridiculous. They remind him, he says, of UNESCO resolutions in the 70s about a new international media and news order, which, the intellectual jibes, was OTT and "at the end of the day unnecessary and even harmful ... what we know now 30 years afterwards is that it is the news agencies that take the lead, are changing and do not last a lifetime ... calling on Peoples of the Third World to unite to build alternative information networks seems to me a bit ingenuous." The 3 Presidents' criticism of international media, Castaneda adds, reflects the way Cuba manages news at its own discretion and it is an example of a country where there is total monopoly of news and that is happening in Venezuela as well.

President Chavez has called on the telecommunications regulatory body, CONATEL and the Attorney General's Office to do their job and take appropriate action against some media outlets. Addressing Public Works & Housing Minister, Diosdado Cabello (right), Chavez says curtly that he is waiting to see some action. Chavez warns that if they don't act, then he as President of the Republic will have to step in. Speaking on TV, the President says he wants to see the media use their powerful tools for debate, criticism, culture and of course, news but not to poison or for crime, as is happening at the moment. Chavez has reminded Attorney General, Luisa Ortega of the case of one broadcaster allowing one individual to come to his channel calling for his (Chavez) assassination and nothing is being done about it. The President is of the opinion that what is happening is a "bombardment of poison" over the public by a group of persons, creating collective fear so much so that it has become a matter of public health. It's a matter of Venezuela's dignity and respect for ourselves and the country, Chavez affirms, and he is adamant that he will not allow the poison to spread and affect people's health.

Meanwhile, back at the opposition conference ... Speaking as president of the International Foundation for Freedom, Peruvian writer, Mario Vargas Llosa (left)says he sees economic freedom in Venezuela under severe threat and calls talk about social property instead of private property a ploy. "Property is individual a