Ecuador gov’t seizes TV stations
Published:Tuesday | July 8, 2008 | 4:26 PM
Ecuador\'s government has seized two private TV stations in a long-running dispute over debts.
BBC reports said officials and the police raided the TV channels in Quito and Guayaquil, and another 193 companies in the same business group were also seized.
The dispute is linked to the collapse of banks in the late 1990s and the state\'s efforts to recover money.
The stations\' owners have described as an attack on free speech, while Economy Minister Fausto Ortiz resigned.
He quit President Rafael Correa\'s government after apparently disagreeing with the takeover of the two small stations, TC Television and Guayaquil and Gamavision in Quito.