By Isabela Fraga
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accused CNN en Español of inciting a coup d'etat in the country, reported newspaper El Universal. Maduro made the accusation during a speech broadcasted on Monday through TV channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
"CNN en Español is a broacaster that seeks destabilization, that openly calls for a coup d'etat in Venezuela, that distorts our country's political and social life," Maduro said during the public event shown by the state TV network.
CNN rejected Maduro's accusations and said the network has invited the Venezuelan president several times to participate in its programs. "Up to this moment we haven't received an answer to our repeated invitations. Once again we publicly invite President Maduro to join us for a conversation on these important topics and we hope he accepts."
This isn't the first time that Venezuela's leadership accuses international media from plotting against the country. In January, a government press release accused the international media of waging a "psychological war" regarding the health of then President Hugo Chávez, who was suffering from a serious lung infection.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
