Pressed by the government
By Gonzalo Marroquín Posted Sat, Sep 6 2008
Attempts to curtail press freedom and freedom of expression may take many forms — not just murdering a journalist, such as that of Gerardo Israel García in Mexico in December 2007, or shutting down a news outlet, as happened to Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) in Venezuela in 2007. There are more “subtle” actions that occur in the Americas. These would appear to have other objectives but in fact seek to prevent an investigative reporter’s access to sources, send a journalist to prison with or without the benefit of trial, enact laws to restrict editorial content and impose censorship and hobble the free circulation of news and the unfettered practice of journalism — just to name a few.
The region’s climate is worsening. Press freedom has declined in the Americas, due to violence and verbal attacks by certain presidents unleashed against journalists but also as a result of a range of legal proceedings and judicial rulings against the news media. Added to this is the impunity that surrounds crimes against journalists throughout the Western Hemisphere. Despite legal progress, innumerable unsolved criminal cases continue to exist in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, among other Latin American nations.
The figures speak for themselves. Seven journalists have been murdered since October — five in Mexico and one each in Argentina and Honduras. Thirty came under physical attacks in Peru, and in Colombia 35 journalists received threats — five were forced to leave their homeland. More dramatic is that 25 journalists still languish in prison in Cuba, which goes to show that conditions have not changed despite the transfer of power from one Castro brother to another. Of those journalists jailed, 12 suffer health problems and remain in custody without being granted humanitarian special release in consideration of their serious illnesses and, in many cases, their advanced ages. Their treatment and the conditions of their custody are inhumane, with insufficient food and hygiene, abuse of inmates who demand basic rights and limited medical care. The work of about 60 active independent journalists is met with daily repression.
In the last six months, 52 acts of coercion plagued the press in Cuba, including fines, searches, seizure of money and personal property, arrests, restrictions on movement, raids on homes, death threats, harassment by pro-government mobs with police connivance and reprisals against journalists’ family members. The conduct of the foreign press continues under the strict supervision of the authorities.
The confrontation between the press and the government came to a head in verbal attacks by high-level officials in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Paraguay. Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte Frutos and government officials have harshly attacked newspapers, television channels, editors and the Inter American Press Association. The unusual virulence of the anti-press statements must be seen in the context of the general elections of April 20, 2007.
The recent increase in state-owned media outlets in the region is clear evidence of new efforts by governments to control information. The Venezuelan government took control of several radio and TV stations. The Guyana government currently has a monopoly on radio frequencies. The Bolivian government, with economic support from Venezuela, is installing a network of 30 radio stations in rural areas and also is preparing to establish a group of television channels, financed by the government of Iran. This increase has also been noted in Ecuador, where the state channel TV Ecuador began broadcasting sporadically in December and the now state-owned daily El Telégrafo was redesigned and resumed publication in March with heavy government advertising. It was also announced that the old Radio Nacional will soon be back on the air.
Meanwhile, Venezuela also is undergoing serious restrictions of free speech and press freedom. There is a clear official objective of making independent news media disappear or else face restrictions and attacks. In May 2007, RCTV was shut down and its transmission equipment seized by the government. At the same time, official actions against the Globovisión TV news network continues.
For example, the Venezuelan government’s telecommunications agency Conatel sued Globovisión over a brief testimonial report called “You Saw It,” which the government did not like. In February, officials from the Internal Revenue and Customs Service (Seniat) came to the TV station, demanding that financial books be handed over immediately and requesting extensive tax information. The National Assembly’s Media Committee declared it “supports all legal actions that social and political organizations take against Globovisión.”
Indirect attacks have also been evident in Venezuela. The government has repeatedly denied the right of access to public information for the media that refuse to buckle under its hegemony. Independent reporters have been prevented from using sources and covering events controlled by state agencies.
Advertising has become an awful, immoral weapon used to pressure and punish those media that do not resort to self-censorship. News media in Guyana, Argentina, Uruguay, Nicaragua, Mexico and the Dominican Republic have been punished or rewarded for their editorial policies through the placement of government advertising.
Nevertheless, for the first time in Argentina, the provincial government of Tierra del Fuego established a procedure to allocate advertising in a non-discriminatory manner. This action follows a Supreme Court ruling in September 2007 that issued clear guidelines with far-reaching institutional implications. Objective criteria were established to prevent discrimination in the placement of government advertising.
The battle for freedom of expression and press freedom that the Inter American Press Association is waging is not a task of just one day or one week or even months — it is an ongoing, unceasing endeavor. IAPA has repeatedly stressed that it is a continuous, unswerving struggle, undertaken within the norms that sustain a democracy. It is clear that society at large has to become involved in this battle in order to defend democratic principles and values that do not solely belong to journalists. Freedom of expression and the right to information belong to all human beings.
Journalists can express their ideas and exchange opinions and news without fear of reprisal. IAPA made this priority clear at its midyear meeting held in late March in Caracas, Venezuela, where participants included supporters of President Hugo Chávez’s government.
The Declaration of Chapultepec sets the conviction of the strength of IAPA to foster freedom of the press stating, “The media and journalists should neither be discriminated against nor favored because of what they write or say.” In Principle 1, it declares, “No people or society can be free without freedom of expression and of the press. The exercise of this freedom is not something authorities grant; it is an inalienable right of the people.”
It is only fair to note that there has been some progress that gives hope in the consolidation of the people’s right to know. There is a trend in Latin America to do away with the culture of secrecy that was so widespread and utilized during the military dictatorships that ravaged the region. Little by little, progress is made so Western Hemisphere nations such as the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Peru are able to enjoy the rule of access to public information.
In this connection, Guatemala’s President Alvaro Colom signed the Declaration of Chapultepec April 1 assuring that he was prepared to sign the respective bill into law as soon as it was passed by the National Congress, where it is currently under debate. “Freedom of the press is necessary for the prevalence of truth, a fundamental value for which we continue growing as a country,” he declared.Nicaragua and Honduras have issued regulations on access to public records and Chile has also adopted a similar initiative.
IAPA has stressed among other positive aspects that in spite of the violence unleashed against media organizations and individual journalists, there has been a greater awareness of the need to ensure that the press can do its job and to combat impunity. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that IAPA has identified a total of 85 persons who are behind bars in prison, serving sentences for having murdered journalists.