Off the air.

As promised, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez shut down private television station RCTV by not renewing its broadcast license. The leftist paratrooper-turned-president bragged of shutting up supporters of a short-lived 2002 coup against him while threatening the station's owners with sanctions if they decide to sue over the shutdown. Thousands of Venezuelans poured into the streets in the final hours of broadcast of the station while ministers promised new signals would soon displace a critical voice on Venezuelan TV.

"I am here to celebrate the closure of RCTV, it is a coup-supporting television station."

--Horacio Marquez, Venezeluan demonstrator (Reuters)

"The capacity not to renew broadcast licenses should not be used as a tool of punishment or reward for a given media's editorial stance."

--Gonzalo Marroquin, president of the Inter-American Press Association Committee on Freedom of Press and Information (El Universal)

"We have no plan to take over any of the Venezuelan airwaves. On the contrary, with new digital technology the number of channels has increased fivefold and, as I understand it, the technical quality of the signal is better."

--William Lara, Venezuelan Minister of Communication and Information (LATIN TRADE)

"What has begun here is the rescue of freedom, of peace, of justice, and of conciliation among Venezuelans."

--Miguel Angel Rodriguez, RCTV reporter (ABC)

"If the government were right now to create or had the capacity to create two public television stations, well, we'd have to see what other (transmission frequency) it could take."

--Jesse Chacon, Venezuelan Telecommunications Minister (El Financiero)