Marcel Granier is a Venezuelan journalist and general manager of the television station RCTV. In his 2010 Oslo Freedom Forum presentation, Granier outlines Hugo Chávez's war against the independent media and the internet. Granier warns that the current attacks against the media are just the beginning of darker days if democratic governments around the world do not take a stand. The truth must be told, he says, because "freedom of speech is the oxygen of a free society," and without it our humanity is lost.

About

Marcel Granier is a Venezuelan journalist, entrepreneur, and freedom of the press advocate. He is the president and CEO of Empresas 1BC and the general director of Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), which, until its closure on May 27, 2007, was the oldest and most-watched television channel in Venezuela. For decades Granier was host of Primer Plano, a political talk show with wide viewership. Since President Chávez came to power in Venezuela, Granier and his television network have frequently been attacked and challenged by the president, who has described them as “fascists" and “coup-plotters" for their criticism of the government. Without a legal proceeding, RCTV’s frequency was not renewed in 2007. Granier explains that Venezuelans no longer live in a democracy and warns that soon all protests will be silenced, political prisoners will become disappeared persons, and Chávez's daunting slogan "Fatherland, Socialism, or Death" will become all too real.