The Venezuelan authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Guillermo Zualoga, the owner of Globovision television station, and his son on charges of conspiracy and usury, according to news reports.  Following the January suspension of opposition-aligned Radio Caracas Television Internacional’s (RCTVI) cable operations, Globovision is Venezuela’s only remaining anti-Chavez news broadcaster, reports say.

Zualoga and his son have been charged with business malpractice, after 24 new Toyota SUVs were found at one of their homes during a raid in May 2009, reports say.  The vehicles were allegedly illegally acquired, and were going be sold for profit, according to a report on Vheadline.com.

Zualoga, who owns a number of car dealerships, told reporters that the charges are meant to intimidate him, news reports say.  He said the cars were at his home for safekeeping, because one of the dealerships had been robbed.

On Friday, intelligence agents raided Zualoga’s with an arrest warrant for him and his son, but the pair were nowhere to be found, according to the Associated Press. Their lawyer said she has no idea of their whereabouts.

The Globovision owner also faces charges of insulting the president and spreading false information, which could result in six to 30 months and two-to-five years in prison, respectively.  Zualoga was arrested and temporarily detained on 25 March on these charges, four days after he made comments at the Inter-American Press Association’s annual meeting condemning Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s repression of the media.

The Venezuelan media has been placed under serious pressure in recent months with a slew of administrative sanctions and law suits against radio and television stations that criticize the government.  Last year, many broadcasters that had formerly been classified as “international” were reclassified as “Venezuelan,” subjecting them to local restrictions.

In January this year, six television stations were closed for refusing to air President Chavez’s speeches when required. All except cable station RCTVI have resumed broadcasting, despite the fact that the station accepted “under protest” its national status and agreed to air government programming, reports say.

“We condemn the Venezuelan government’s repeated efforts to single out and punish Guillermo Zualoga and Globovision, and its continued repression of critical media in general,” said IPI Deputy Director Alison Bethel McKenzie. “President Chavez should recognize that democracy cannot thrive without the free flow of information, and indeed, without a diversity of sometimes conflicting views and opinions.”