We're not always the biggest fans of CNN, but when they've provoked the ire of a leftist dictator, we have to give props.
Reuters is reporting that Venezuelan despot Nicolas Maduro is threatening to expel CNN reporters from his country for daring to, well, do their jobs and report the news (h/t TV Newser; emphasis mine):
Feb 20 (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro threatened on Thursday to expel television network CNN from the country if it did not "rectify" the way it has covered deadly political protests.
At least five people have been killed in unrest that the government blames on opposition-led "fascists" and that its rivals blame on the security forces.
Local television networks have provided almost no live coverage of the protests against Maduro, which began last month over a wide range of complaints including inflation, violent crime, corruption and shortages of basic products.
As result, many opposition supporters have turned to CNN Espanol, available to some cable TV subscribers, which in recent days has been the only television to offer live broadcasts of opposition press conferences.
"I've asked the (information) minister to tell CNN we have started the administrative process to remove them from Venezuela if they don't rectify (their behavior)," Maduro said on state TV. "Enough! I won't accept war propaganda against Venezuela."
"We do not have an official comment at this time on President Maduro's most recent comments about CNN," Bridget Leininger, a CNN spokeswoman, said in an email to Reuters.
The only other way for Venezuelans to see opposition leaders speaking live is via streaming websites over stuttering broadband.
We await to see if Maduro should issue a similar threat to MSNBC, but since that network is obsessed with portraying conservative Republicans as pure evil and has next to no interest in the failure of socialism in Venezuela, we don't expect the Lean Forward network to be the target of Maduro's thuggish regime.
