Chavez Wants to Bring Suit Against CNN for “Instigating Murder”

By Chris Ariens 

Reuters reports that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said CNN may have been instigating his murder. Chavez blames the network for showing a photograph of him with the words “Who killed him?”

Reuters says the caption appeared to be a production mistake — confusing a Chavez news item with one on the death of NFL player Sean Taylor. The anchor said “take the image down” when the mistake was realized.

But Chavez is calling for a probe after reviewing the broadcast, questioning why the photograph and wording were left on screen for several seconds. “I want the state prosecutor to look into bringing a suit against CNN for instigating murder in Venezuela.”

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>More: The BBC reports the mistake happened Monday on CNN En Espanol. “In a statement, CNN said its presenter had immediately made clear on air that there had been a mistake.” Interesting to note, if the mistake did happen on Monday, the reports of Taylor’s death did not come out until Tuesday morning.

>Update: CNN tells us the error occurred Tuesday not Monday as the BBC reported.

>Update, Update: We’ve added the graphic in question. The translation, as Reuters reports, is “Who Killed Him?”

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