Nicaragua

NICARAGUA The most serious underlying threat to freedom of the press in Nicaragua are economic measures. Among these are the attempt to approve a minimum wage for journalists; the use of tax audits; the granting or withholding of official advertising; a campaign to discredit La Prensa, its journalists and other media outlets . The attempt to approve a minimum wage law for journalists, which is inconsistent with the country’s economic situation, was shelved temporarily following the IAPA´s approval in Cancún March 16 of a resolution criticizing the bill. After various media investigations into government corruption since January 1999, and especially because of an investigation by La Prensa that began in March and led to the dismissal of two senior officials, one of them the director general of revenues, Byron Jérez, an investigation by the General Auditing Office found no criminal responsibility, because of bank confidentiality rules. Nevertheless, on September 28, the auditor’s office found presumption of criminal liability of Jérez and other officials because of another case exposed by the weekly Confidencial and covered by all the independent media outlets. When the auditing office’s demand for his dismissal was announced, the director general of revenue called a news conference but refused to allow journalists from La Prensa to attend. La Prensa received a tax penalty of almost half a million dollars after a revision by the General Revenue Office shortly after the newspaper’s investigation into government corruption began. Television Canal 2, the top channel which broadcasts one of the most important news programs was hit with another million-dollar revision. For a while the government prohibited cabinet ministers from appearing on “Primera Hora,” the premier morning show on Canal 2. This ban was lifted when an earthquake hit the city of Masaya. For their part, the editors of La Prensa said in a statement that they consider the revision “arbitrary, exaggerated, without legal basis and a form of pressure to force us to change our editorial position.” The revision focused on Central Bank bonds, which are legally exempt from income tax. All the banks and many private corporations have invested in them because of the tax benefit. In the case of La Prensa, although the General Revenue Office recognizes that interest on the bonds is not taxable, it does not accept the deduction of interest on bank loans the newspaper obtained. Oddly, the audit of La Prensa is the only one that has been imposed on a private business for buying Central Bank bonds. La Prensa sued in court. In addition to the revision, a campaign was unleashed to discredit La Prensa and Canal 2 with commentaries on all the radio and television stations belonging to the government and its “friends” and full-page ads in other newspapers and publications. Large banners were put up in the streets where La Prensa and Canal 2 are located calling on them to pay their taxes. “If the poor pay taxes, La Prensa” should pay,” one said. Another said: “The people know…. Byron Jérez, La Prensa and Canal 2 write it backward.” As a result of La Prensa’s investigation, La Noticia, the newspaper of the government party and other official media launched a campaign to discredit its two editors, Eduardo Enríquez and Roberto Fonseca, falsely accusing the former of accepting bribes from the General Auditing Office and the latter of importing an automobile illegally without paying duty. Enríquez filed a lawsuit for libel against La Noticia, saying that its editors should publish a retraction of the accusations. In September, Carlos Briceño, owner and news director of Telenica Canal 8, reported that auditors from the revenue office had arrived at his place of business a few weeks after President Alemán strongly criticized Briceño for his activity as his first press secretary during the first year of Alemán’s government. Alemán blamed Briceño for the failure of his communications policy and the cooling of his relations with the media. On September 26, the Social Security agency said that if Canal 8 did not pay a $111,500 debt within 72 hours it would pursue it through the courts, seizing the business. The debt that Social Security said had not been paid, in córdobas, is 57.000 for labor payments, 180,000 for management payments, 134,000 in interest and a surcharge of one million. Briceño alleged that the charge was imposed in 1996 and that the company has paid since then without receiving services for its employees. He said it has tried to make arrangements to have the surcharge waived, which is usual. The government has favored the media that support it by granting advertising, and radio stations that do not support the government complain of discrimination. The comparative figures for advertising in newspapers from January to May in 1999 and 2000 are as follows: La Prensa: 1999: $322,136, 2000: $266,227. Decrease $55,909 Nuevo Diario: 1999: $291,782 2000: $311,788 Increase $20,006 La Tribuna: 1999 $149,691 2000: $99,402 Decrease: $50,290 La Noticia: 1999 $38,216 2000; $220,629 Increase: $182,413 During this period, the General Revenue Office placed only $50,000 of advertising with La Prensa. In comparison, it placed $200,000 with El Nuevo Diario, $330,000 with La Noticia and none with La Tribuna. La Noticia is the official newspaper and is connected to the ruling Liberal Party. It has only 3 per cent of the circulation among the print media while 100 per cent of its advertising is from the government. La Tribuna was in an economic crisis that affected its circulation and the quality of its information, and which led to bankruptcy a few months later. On September 8, Journalists Day, President Alemán held a breakfast meeting with local and foreign journalists in which he promised a new era in relations with the media, which had been confrontational since he took office. “I have committed errors but from now on that will be a thing of the past,” Alemán said. He promised that in the future there wouldn’t be any discrimination in the distribution of official advertising for political reasons. To this date, it is too early to assess the change in the placement of official advertising, but an improvement has been noticed in some state agencies, such as the General Revenue Office, which had discriminated against La Prensa. The tax agency now has scheduled 21% of its advertising in La Prensa, although it still schedules more ads in two other papers: 39% in El Nuevo Diario and 40% in La Nación. A general version of the new Criminal Code was approved at the beginning of May. The final version, which will replace the current code that is more than 100 years old, has not yet been approved. The proposed code protects the right of information under Article 372, which establishes penalties for those who curtail freedom of expression through coercion, intimidation or bribery. But Articles 199, 200, 201 and 202 protect individual privacy. Some journalists and jurists say these articles are written in such a way that they could be used to stop journalists from reporting on corruption and other wrongdoing in government. For example, Article 200 says, “Anyone who, because of his status, job, profession or craft knows a secret whose dissemination could cause damage, and reveals it without justification, shall be punished with imprisonment of one or two years and suspended for the same period.” Article 199 refers in similar terms to correspondence, papers or recordings that are not intended to be made public, while 202 refers to computer records, databases, etc. The Supreme Electoral Council published a regulation concerning advertising by the four political parties participating in this year´s municipal election campaign, from September 21 to November 1. These regulations limit the number of pages of advertising in the press by the parties and the length of radio and television spots. They also prohibit the media from accepting advertising from parties and other organizations that are not participating in the elections. One day after the campaign officially began, Silvio Américo Calderón (of the ruling party), spokesman and magistrate of the electoral council, called Octavio Sacasa, owner of Canal 2, and ordered him to suspend a spot placed by the Conservative Party. The magistrate said it was not in compliance with Article 107 of the new Elections Law, because it used the words “pact and corruption.” The article says advertising must be about programs, values and principles and must promote the political career and virtues of the candidates while prohibiting them from “denigrating, offending or discrediting their opponents.” Under this law, violations are punishable by 30 to 180 days’ detention. Both the president of the Conservative Party and its candidate for mayor of Managua challenged the ruling and protested to all the media, appearing with gags over their mouths. They said they would rather go to jail that give up the spot. Canal 2 demanded a written order from the Electoral Council. It responded by publishing a statement denying that the council as a whole had ordered the suspension of the party´s ad either orally or in writing. Retired general Joaquín Cuadra, president of the National Unity Movement, which is about to become a party and is not participating in the municipal elections, also refused to suspend his party´s advertising. On August 15, former general Humberto Ortega sued El Nuevo Diario for libel for a publication that linked him to the assets of the Centeno Roque family, which had been involved in a large financial scandal that caused the bankruptcy of one of the largest banks in Nicaragua. The trial has been under way with legal delays and on August 14, Judge María José Morales had rejected the published account as “obscure and contradictory.” The editor of El Nuevo Diario, Danilo Aguirre Solís, said he would attend a conciliation session to “defend the freedom of expression.” At the end of March, Barricada resumed publication, this time as a weekly and as the official newspaper of the Sandinista Party. Only a few issues were published and it ceased publication again in July. Also in July, La Tribuna closed. It had been one of four newspapers published in Nicaragua.