23//06/09
Ambassador Samuel Moncada responds to an article published by Songlines magazine concerning Venezuelan gaitas

In the June 2009 issue of Songlines magazine, a column entitled “Conflicting Reports” stated that the Government of President Hugo Chavez  has prohibited traditional Venezuelan gaitas and that the Venezuelan Law of Social Responsibility in Radio and Television (RESORTE Law, by its Spanish initials) had prohibited lyrics with double meaning .

Ambassador Samuel Moncada therefore responded to this accusation, which has been issued in the July 2009 edition of Songlines, magazine.

The Ambassador’s letter reads as follows:

Gaita Minute.

I would like to express my opinion regarding your article on Venezuelan gaitas that appeared in your Conflicting Reports column [#60]. Firstly I celebrate that Songlines has dedicated a brief article to this traditional Venezuelan music. As the author rightly points out, gaita is a truly musical and cultural expression that fuses several Afro-Caribbean melodies and rhytms. He is also right in observing that gaita has traditionally been used in Venezuea as a means to express discontent with government policies and/or politicians.

However, it is absolutely incorrect to say that the law of social responsibility in radio and television sanctions gaita composers and radio stations in Venezuela. Gaita protesta continues to be aired throughout Venezuela on radio prgrammes without any kind of repercussions to either the media airing them or the artists of the songs. There has not been one single case under the Chavez government where musicians are censured. Surely this proves that Venezuelans are absolutely free to say whatever they want in the media? We have to bear in mind that 86% of the media (press, radio and  television) is privately owned and in their vast majority, oppose the Bolivarian revolution.

Ambassador Samuel Moncada,

Embassy of Venezuela London

Songlines is a widely read London base magazine that portrays and conveys information about different types of musical rythms and upcoming events.