Around 30 armed, pro-government activists raided the premises of Venezuelan private broadcaster Globovision during a live news broadcast shortly before 13.00 on Monday 3 August, exploding two tear gas canisters and injuring four people in the process.

Footage taken at the scene appears to show the assailants – who were dressed in red berets and waving the colours of the ruling party – being led by Lina Ron, a prominent pro-Chavez activist.

The attackers “used firearms to force their way through the main door and subdue the security personnel” at Globovision’s headquarters, reports the Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS), an organisation of independent Latin-American journalists.

Once inside, IPYS adds, they launched the tear gas explosives, aiming one in the direction of the live broadcast studio.

Two security guards, another channel employee and a metropolitan police officer were injured during the attack.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his team have often publicly accused Globovision – Venezuela’s last independent television broadcaster – of “terrorism” and spreading a “discourse of hate,” with the aim of “destabilising” the country, and this recent attack follows an increase in State pressure on the broadcaster.

In June, the national telecommunications regulator, CONATEL, began investigating Globovision to determine whether the channel had “incited crime” by broadcasting a live interview in which an interviewee suggested that Chavez’s current course of political action may see him end up “upside down” like his “counterpart, Benito Mussolini.”

In May, CONATEL opened an investigation into Globovision’s reporting of a small earthquake, claiming that their coverage may have generated “alarm, fear or panic” among the population. During their reporting, Globovisión had criticised the lack of official information on the unfolding events.

In 2003, Globovision saw a multi-million dollar tax-fine levied upon it.

The broadcaster’s president, Guillermo Zuloaga, faces charges of usury in relation to an unrelated automobile business he presides over. Zuloaga describes the charges as “judicial terrorism against liberty of expression.”

The storming of Globovision is just the latest indicator of a worsening media freedom climate in Venezuela.

On Monday, IPI condemned the Venezuelan authorities for introducing a harsh new draft law that could see journalists jailed for up to four years for “media crimes.”