Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez continues his authoritarian crackdown in Venezuela with the closure of 34 radio stations for alleged violations of government regulations. Despite the reluctance of some liberals to denounce an obvious dictator in the making, Chavez continues to consolidate power and punish critics — particularly in attacks on the free press.

Media groups have denounced the move by the government as an obvious crackdown on critics of the Chavez, who has previously threatened to shutdown television, radio, and print operations that do not adhere to government dictates.

Chavez offered a curious defense: “We haven’t closed any radio stations, we’ve applied the law. We’ve recovered a bunch of stations that were outside the law, that now belong to the people and not the bourgeoisie.”

For the next attack on the free press, Chavez may find this clip of “You, Me and the Bourgeoisie” to show the other side of the issue:

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