Venezuelan journalist, politician and economist Teodoro Petkoff spoke about the Venezuelan media and Hugo Chávez's government during an informal discussion Thursday.
About 25 Gainesville residents, students, faculty and staff participated in the bilingual discussion.
Petkoff, the founder and editor-in-chief of the Venezuelan newspaper Tal Cual, which is critical of Chávez, described the Venezuelan media's history of censorship and violence.
"Between media and governments, always there are frictions, always, and our country was not an exception," he said.
Petkoff said that freedom of the press has gradually increased in Venezuela, but the press must remain cautious.
He said Chávez is also trying to create a block of tax-funded state-run TV channels. Private channels still exist, but Chávez aims to dominate the country's viewpoint, Petkoff said.
He said the government uses his taxes to attack him, and Chávez does not have the legal or moral right to do that.
"I am very critical of the government, very irreverent even," he said.
