Chavez begins marathon TV show

Show celebrating 10th anniversary of weekly programme to run for four days.

Hugo Chavez
Chavez's weekly show was first launched in 1999 [AFP]

Weekly show

“Hello President” was first broadcast on the radio on May 23, 1999, a month after Chavez took office. State television began airing the show the following year.

Profile

undefined
Hugo Chavez 

The programme is transmitted from a different corner of the country each week, normally on Sundays, and typically lasts four to six hours.

On Thursday he began the programme giving sexual education tips to a group of teenagers and talked about problems with his weight, which has ballooned since he took office.  

Chavez has used his television appearances to preaching his own brand of
socialism, announce nationalisations, and berate opponents.

He once shocked his defence minister on the show by ordering tanks to the border with Colombia. 

Venezuela’s media is polarised, with government stations strongly supporting Chavez and private newspapers and television channels relentlessly critical of the president and his policies.

Source: News Agencies