Venezuela's Chavez fights use of English words

Banners exhort Venezuelans: 'Say it in Spanish. Say it with pride.'

Fact file: Hugo Chavez

AP	Click to learn more about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez — his early history, his politics and his quotes.

Slide show

Supporters of Venezuelan President Chavez celebrate in front of Miraflores Palace as Chavez gives a speech after official election results gave him a victory by a wide margin in Caracas

Hugo Chavez
Click to view scenes from the political life of the Venezuelan leader.

more photos

NBC World Blog

NBC News correspondents and producers around the globe share their insight on news events.

updated 9:15 a.m. ET Feb. 26, 2008

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez’s government is taking its battle against U.S. “imperialism” into Venezuelans’ dictionaries, urging state phone company workers to avoid English-language business and tech terms.

Through a campaign launched Monday, newly nationalized CANTV hopes to wean employees and others from words like “staff” (“equipo” is preferred), “marketing” (“mercadeo”) and “password” (“contrasena”).

Stickers and banners printed up by the company exhort Venezuelans to “Say it in Spanish. Say it with pride.”

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

The Communications and Information Ministry said in a statement that Venezuelans must recover Spanish words that are “threatened by sectors that have started a battle for the cultural domination of our nations.”

Other English words targeted include “mouse” (the company prefers “raton”), “meeting” (“reunion”) and “sponsor” (“patrocinador”) — all of which have become common in Latin American countries.

The leftist president has sought to counter what he calls U.S. cultural imperialism on all fronts, financing Venezuelan cinema as an alternative to the “dictatorship of Hollywood” and forcing radio stations to play more Venezuelan music.

English is still taught in schools alongside other languages, however. And Chavez himself often breaks playfully into English during speeches, sometimes to salute his close friend, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, saying: “How are you, Fidel?”