Paraguay

PARAGUAY Report to the Midyear Meeting Caracas, Venezuela March 28 - 30, 2008 The conflict between the government and the media has increased in the context of the election campaign. President Nicanor Duarte Frutos and other government spokesmen have harshly attacked newspapers, television channels, editors and even the Inter American Press Association. The unusual virulence of the anti-press statements must be understood in the context of the next general elections, scheduled for April 20. Opinion surveys publicized in the press predict that an opposition candidate will win, with the government party candidate only in third place. The government has accused the press of a conspiracy with the polling companies, saying they are all part of an alleged campaign to discredit the government, along with news stories that have uncovered corruption in high places. The government’s criticism reached its height between November and February. During this period, Duarte Fuentes constantly told the press to “go to hell,” and called it “anti-Paraguayan” and “anti-Colorado .” He accused media executives of speculation, contraband and tax evasion. Two important facts stand out. First, the government did not stop at violent speeches and words. In a campaign speech on December 7, Duarte Frutos ordered the Labor Ministry to take over Stock supermarket in Ciudad del Este, one of the companies owned by Última Hora and Telefuturo. The store was taken over three days later. Labor Ministry said it had decided on the action before the president’s speech. The second event was President Duarte Frutos’s reaction to the IAPA’s call for an end to his constant attacks on the media. The request was based on concern about the atmosphere of intimidation of freedom of expression in the country. The president’s answer illustrates the level of intolerance that Paraguay’s government has reached. “Let the IAPA concentrate on making money. I don’t know who the members of IAPA are, but I am sure that there are people in IAPA who have never written an obituary, who cannot write a news story and who want to talk about journalism. They are not going to tell me what to do.” It is not just the government party that is attacking the press. One of the leading candidates, former Bishop Fernando Lugo, has said he favors a law to regulate the activities of the media and journalists, something the president also supports. A few days later Lugo tried to correct himself. Also, he said that the Paraguayan press publishes biased reports motivated by economic and corporate “interests,” without giving any reason or evidence. Dr. Aníbal Carrillo Iramain, the leader of the political coalition Tekjoja, one of the strongest supporters of Lugo’s candidacy, also said the Paraguayan press should be “democratized,” adding that the media are controlled by an oligarchy, On March 20, Gen. Lino Oviedo, another presidential candidate, called journalists of several media outlets “snakes and snitches” and added that many of them receive bribes for damaging his image. On November 4, President Duarte Frutos lashed out at the media at an official event, saying that “they dream of the fall of the Colorado party movement, which will never fall.” He added that “they may have their media, their newspapers, their television channels, but they will never have the heart of the Paraguayan people. They spread lies about us and they want us to feel disgusted about our party.” On November 12, the president threatened to “unmask” the media,” adding, “They are going to be accountable. We have to charge them taxes and we are going after them. The press is more of an enemy than the political opposition. They want to destroy the people’s faith in the future of our children.” The next day the president said he was the victim of a campaign of insults, because he “does not kneel to the media who want to destroy the creative capacity of the Paraguayan people.” He indicated that he supported government-owned news media. On November 24, the president harshly criticized the daily Última Hora and the television channel Telefuturo for their alleged support of his opponent in the primary, Luis Castiglioni. He accused them of distorting polls to change voters’ decisions. On December 3, the president said, “Press freedom does not exist because the media respond to their owners, are profit-making and answer to the interests of economic groups.” He added that, “The bosses publish what will sell their newspapers. The media owners lie, rehash news and bribe our officials.” On December 11, the president called journalists “prophets of pessimism” during a campaign event. At the same event, he blamed the newspapers Última Hora and ABC Color for the resignation of the deputy tax minister, Andreas Neulfelt. On the next day he said that 80% of what the press publishes is false. On January 1, President Duarte Frutos demanded that the written press “directly publish political propaganda or not talk about what they do not know.” He also insisted that there is neither press freedom nor objectivity in journalism. On January 27, notary Sonia González threatened Alberto Núñez, correspondent of the dailies La Nación and Crónica of Capiibary, about 300 kilometers from the capital. The background of the threat appeared to be investigative reports linking Alcides Aquino, González’s husband, to the illegal lumber trafficking in the region. On February 8, Aldo Zuccolillo, editor of the daily ABC Color, was acquitted in a trial on charges of defamation brought by former legislator Benjamín Marecos Duré. Zuccolillo faces at least twenty criminal cases, most brought by politicians.