CARACAS - Venezuela filed lawsuits Monday against US cable network CNN for linking President Hugo Chavez to Al-Qaeda, and against a Venezuelan TV network for encouraging Chavez's assassination.
Information Minister William Lara showed at a press conference what he said was CNN footage displaying pictures of Chavez juxtaposed with those of an Al-Qaeda leader.
CNN also aired a story about the Venezuelan protests, but used images taken in Mexico of an unrelated story, Lara said.
"CNN broadcast a lie which linked President Chavez to violence and murder," Lara said.
The government also sued Venezuelan network Globovision for what they said was indirectly encouraging Chavez's murder by airing footage of the 1981 assassination attempt on the late pope John Paul II.
"In my view, this television network, in this specific part of its programming, committed the offense of incitement to assassination, against the Venezuelan head of state," Lara said.
CNN issued a statement late Monday saying they "strongly deny" being "engaged in a campaign to discredit or attack Venezuela."
The news network acknowledged a video mix-up, and "aired a detailed correction and expressed regret for the involuntary error."
Regarding the Al-Qaeda leader, the network said that "unrelated news stories can be juxtaposed in a given program segment just as a newspaper page or a news web site may have unconnected stories adjacent to each other."
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