Venezuelan journalist Marcel Granier posits that “freedom of speech is the oxygen of a free society,” while he outlines Hugo Chávez’s war against the independent media and the internet. By aggressively attacking critical media outlets and branding them as “fascists” and “coup-plotters,” Chávez has effectively neutralized the free press in Venezuela, Granier explains. He warns that the current attacks against the media will intensify if democratic governments around the world remain passive in the face of Chávez’s actions.