The government is trying to definitively suppress press freedom.
President Hugo Chávez has been violating and interpreting constitutional rights at will, for example, Supreme Court decision 1013 restricting press freedom in 2001 and decision 1942 in 2003 which denied the validity of international human rights treaties. Also, he is revising the Criminal Code to outlaw dissidence and passing new laws such as the Law on Social Responsibility in Radio and Television, intended to control the content of independent broadcast media.
The government uses false citizen participation procedures for various activities and decisions. The so-called users committees established by the radio and television law are primarily composed of devoted supporters of the government and are used to achieve government control over the media and journalism.
Now it is promoting National Plan 2007-2013, which would establish technical boards of press, radio and television observers and consider the media social property. It would also require the dissemination of ethical principles.
Nevertheless, the Venezuelan peoples dedication to democracy prevails even as Chávez tries to impose his foreign ideas and models, perverse forms of social control based on violence, impunity, corruption, exclusion, denial of the right to work, deception, fear and suppression of freedom of information and free expression guaranteed in Articles 57 and 58 of the Constitution.
Although opinion polls show that most Venezuelans oppose the plan, the president is trying to change the Constitution, which he proposed in 1999 and which was approved by popular vote. The changes would provide for his continuous reelection and legitimize a new constitutional framework copied from the Cuban dictatorship. He also wants to destroy the media and any possibility of democracy, press freedom, pluralism independence, individual rights, administrative control and to avoid any future accountability.
The report on Venezuela at the Midyear Meeting in Cartagena, Colombia, highlighted the presidents threat to close Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) in December 2006. The reason he gave was a political accusation: It is a channel that supports coups. The threat was carried out at midnight on May 27, 2007.
All the reasoning, protests against the closing, court actions, statements by many Venezuelan institutions and individuals, the inter-American system and the world were dismissed.
On the day that the order was to be carried out, the information minister threatened to sue the media outlets that describe the RCTV case as a closure.
The Venezuelan government denied that the closing of RCTV was political, saying its license had expired.
In contrast, the license of the official channel Venezolana de Televisión and the channel Venevisión were renewed.
The IAPA called the closure of RCTV as a barbaric act of reprisal against a critical voice that annoys the government. An international IAPA mission was at the television station on May 27.
With the authorization of the Supreme Court, Chávez ordered before the closure that the military take over RCTVs transmitters throughout the country. Its equipment was confiscated, and is now being used for a new government channel.
Globovisión has now become a pluralist instrument for the people to exercise free expression.
The government has systematically denied Globovisión licenses for new frequencies and blocked its over-the-air broadcasts. People close to the government have just started a news channel that will have national coverage.
Globovisión also faces 19 lawsuits, six administrative sanction procedures and several criminal investigations by the Public Prosecutors Office, all of which are inadmissible and clearly political.
President Chávez said at the end of May that he was going to personally bring down Globovisión. After that, the Public Prosecutors Office issued citations for Alberto Federico Ravell, the managing director of Globovisión, and Leopoldo Castillo, host of the program Aló Ciudadano (Hello, Citizen) after the information minister accused them of instigating the assassination of President Hugo Chávez. Ravell responded that these accusations were an attempt to justify the closure of the channel.
The information minister described statements by IAPA representatives in Caracas about the closure of RCTV as interference with Venezuelan laws. He accused Globovisión of violating the Content Law when it broadcast the IAPA statements.
On May 25, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a communiqué expressing its concern about the progressive deterioration of freedom of expression in Venezuela and brought a case against the Venezuelan government in the Inter-American Court on Human Rights for violating the human rights of freedom of expression, personal safety, judicial guarantees and legal protection of workers and journalists of Radio Caracas Televisión.
At the request of the Andrés Bello Catholic University and Reporters Without Borders, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is holding hearings on the situation on Venezuela concerning institutionalism and the guarantee of rights, political discrimination, the situation of rights defenders, the safety of citizens and impunity, as well as the situation of prisoners.
The Venezuelan constitution recognizes the right to freedom of information, but the government ignores this constitutional mandate every day, blocking journalists access to government information.
A survey of press and television journalists from independent and government media outlets throughout the country shows that 51% have been prevented from getting government information in the past 12 months.
The government tries to respond to news and investigations showing corruption and unprecedented impunity, a lack of security and a crisis in the justice system, the inefficiency of state agencies, the alarming deterioration of public services and unemployment, among other things, by closing down sources and denying reality. Officials from the highest to the lowest Requests for information from public agencies are met with attacks, repression and disqualification of journalists and the media.
The system of currency conversion imposed in February of 2003 affects all sectors and activities of national life.
The governments discretion in authorizing the acquisition of hard currency is used as a political tool, and for that reason productive sectors are experiencing serous delays in importing supplies such as newsprint.
The Chávez governments unprecedented spending on advertising is directed at supporting government media outlets, awarding submissiveness and self-censorship and punishing independent journalism.
The governments budget this year to establish and support alternative media outlets at its service is almost $800 million. A project developed with Cuba is adding new television channels to the six belonging to the government such as VTV, Vive TV, Asamblea Nacional, Avila TV, Telesur and TVes. The last one uses the frequencies that belonged to Radio Caracas Televisión and operates throughout the country using its transmitters.
Analysts estimate that the government controls about 3,000 radio stations.
This year the largest telecommunications company of Venezuela, which handles voice, image and audio, cell phones, land lines and Internet, was nationalized.
In addition, President Chávez takes over radio and television to transmit his long speeches and ideological messages.
As one high government official said, Control of the media is a necessary tool for the revolution.
However, the government s channels only cover 20% of the broadcast spectrum.
The Chávez government is trying to consolidate its plans with systematic social control actions, and assigns the greatest importance to control over the media. This requires making content and messages uniform, distorting democratic and pluralistic values and principles, trying to disconnect the people from the country and the world and imposing intellectual and political control similar to the Cuban dictatorship.
The following attacks on journalists occurred:
On March 30, the president of the Regional Housing Institute of the state of Barinas sued Dimas Medina, correspondent of the daily El Nacional for defamation.
On April 13, Miguel Salazar, publisher of the weekly Las Verdades de Miguel (Miguels Truths), charged with defaming the governor of Guarico state, was prohibited from leaving the country.
On April 16, the Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari by the lawyers for Patricia Poleo, who alleged that there were legal and constitutional violations in the investigation opened against the journalist in the Anderson case. Patricio Poleo lives in exile in the United States because the Chávez government accused her of being the mastermind of the crime against the prosecutor Anderson. The Public Prosecutors Office has not found any evidence against her, but is keeping the case open with the threat that it could be resumed at any moment. This was confirmed by the attorney general on October 4.
On April 22, residents of Miranda state repudiated the harassment of the media and a raid on the daily La Región by CICPC officials, who later said it was just a visit.
Gina Reyes Demeis of the daily El Carabobeño, was arrested by the National Guard while covering workers protests in front of a company in Maracay on April 24.
Miguel Angel Rodríguez complained to the prosecutors office that a government newspaper was promoting a campaign that put his life in danger.
Walter Córdova of the daily La Prensa accused the governor of Guarico state of an apparent attack on him May 3.
Leocenis García of the weekly La Razón reported on May 4 that he was being harassed by alleged troops of the National Guard because of reports he had published.
The National Press Workers Union reported on May 16 that the Military Police had attacked Gil Montaño, a reporter of El Universal.
Anuska Buenaluque of the Peruvian network América Televisión reported to a Lima media outlet that the Venezuelan National Guard shot rubber bullets at her during the coverage of protests in Caracas before the closure of RCTV.
On June 6, Miguel Angel Rodríguez reported threats against himself, his family and independent Venezuelan media outlets.
José Rafael Ramirez, of the daily Reporte de la Economía, was detained by the CIPC on June 12 for alleged extortion.
On June 14, reporter Yurimar Añez and cameraman Gilson Lucena of Televisora de la Costa were attacked while covering demonstrations in Puerto Cabello.
An official of the Public Prosecutors Office sought permission to ask the weekly La Razón for personal information, notes, documents, physical and taped material that Luis Felipe Colina used for his reports on corruption in PDVSA.
Military authorities barred reporters of Globovisión from the official inauguration of Termo Zulio on June 17.
On June 27, a group sympathetic to the government attacked journalists of the daily El Impulso, when they laid a wreath at the El Libertador monument in Barquisimeto on the Journalists Day.
The mayors office of Caroní municipality in Bolívar state ordered restriction of the sale of newspapers on the day that the anniversary edition of the daily Correo del Caroní was distributed.
The editor of Noticiero Digital.com Róger Santodomingo, resigned July 1 saying that he and his family had been threatened. Later his vehicle was burned.
On July 2, Luis Tascón, a government member of the National Assembly, sued Gustavo Azócar, a journalist from the state of Táchira. Tascón was responsible for the famous Tascón list used by the government to exclude from government jobs thousands of citizens who had supported the referendum to recall Chávez.
On August 14, a court ordered the arrest of Leocenis García as part of an investigation of José Rafael Ramírez, managing editor of the daily Reporte.
Officials of the mayors office of Bruzual municipality, Yaracuy state, beat Wilmer Oquendo of the daily Yaracuy al Día. Oquendo was taking pictures of the mayor and other officials who were attacking former municipal workers.
Father José Palmar, managing editor of the daily Reporte de la Economía, reported on August 20 that he and journalist Leocenis García are being persecuted because of their reports of corruption in the state oil industry. He handed over boxes full of documents to the prosecutors office to support his information.
On August 21, government supporters attacked the RCTV Internacional cable channels team outside a court, injuring cameraman Antonio Monroy. Journalist Iris García and assistant cameraman Dennos Arenas were also attacked.
On September 11, the office of Imprenta Gráfica was raided. The business, owned by Alejandro Poleo, son of publisher Rafael Poleo, is where the covers of the magazine Zeta are printed. The raid was conducted by officials of the Military Intelligence Bureau who were looking for subversive material, possibly pamphlets with information against the changes to the constitution promoted by President Chávez to ensure his continuous reelection.
On September 17 a group of unidentified hotheads attacked the offices of the daily Panorama in Maracaibo in Zulia state.
On October 2 the administrative offices of the daily Correo del Caroní in Puerto Ordaz, Bolivar state, were raided and searched. Money and objects there were not taken.
On October 8, the justice and interior minister criticized Globovisións broadcast of a videotape about the lack of safety which showed attacks on passengers in vehicles on a highway. The official described the broadcast of these events by Globovisión as a perverse attitude and said the citizens who work there share responsibility. He also ordered the Police Division of Scientific and Criminal Investigation to investigate the channel, saying that it wanted to subvert society by broadcasting a video of attackers.
Miguel Henrique Otero, publisher of the daily El Nacional, said at a news conference that the changes to the constitution proposed by President Chávez will lead to the disappearance of independent media outlets. He said the reform directly threatens the existence of private property because it provides for expropriation without a court order, that is, the government can expropriate whatever it wants to and afterward the case will go to court. In that way, it can expropriate media outlets.
During this General Assembly, on October 13, the IAPA reiterated its firm decision to continue plans to hold its Midyear Meeting in Venezuela in March of 2008 despite apparent government pressure which has caused difficulties in reserving a site for the event.
On the same day, William Lara, minister of peoples power for communications and news, said that IAPA had again attacked Venezuela. He denied that the Venezuelan government had pressured hotel chains not to provide space for the organizations assembly. He also said that censorship is a habitual practice of media capitalists.
Lara repeated that the government does not pressure hotel owners, but does reject anyone who wants to come to the country to defame it.
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