Venezuela angry at Colombia TV mocking "Little Hugo"

By Mario Naranjo

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government has urged a private TV station to pull the plug on a Colombian soap opera that features a dog named "Little Hugo" (insult to all dogs) and which it says insults Venezuela's national pride.

Named for its main character, "Chepe Fortuna," the program also stars a loud and gossipy secretary named "Venezuela."

In one episode, she loses her dog "Little Hugo" -- an obvious reference to the former soldier Chavez -- and a friend consoles her: "You are going to be free, Venezuela!"

That sort of satire, against a backdrop of tense relations between the neighboring Andean countries over the last decade, brought a withering reaction from Venezuela's state telecommunications regulator Conatel.

It demanded late Thursday that the daily soap opera be immediately suspended from Venezuelan TV because of its "denigrating treatment" of the nation.

"Venezuela is repeatedly characterized as associated with crime, interference and vulgarity, showing the shameless manipulation of the plot to demoralize the Venezuelan people," Conatel said in a statement.

Thursday, local broadcaster Televen pulled the latest episode, which had been scheduled for later that night. Televen has not commented on the decision.

Both Colombians and Venezuelans adore soap operas, or "telenovelas," which often reflect many of the political and social realities of the countries they are made in

The mockery of Venezuela in "Chepe Fortuna" comes at a delicate time given the history of diplomatic ruptures between the ideologically opposed governments in Bogota and Caracas since the socialist Chavez came to power in 1999.

Recently, Chavez and new Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos have buried the hatchet and developed a good working relationship despite their obvious political differences.

Critics say Chavez has repressed media freedom in Venezuela. But the president and his supporters point to a plethora of daily criticism and mockery of his government as evidence of plurality in the South American country.

(Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Eric Beech)