Paraguay

PARAGUAY Numerous legal actions clearly intended to silence journalists and the media affected freedom of the press during this period. Juan Ernesto Villamayor, secretary general of the presidency, on October 29 sued Aldo Zuccolillo, publisher of the daily ABC Color. The complaint cited alleged violations of constitutional provisions following the newspaper’s publication of Villamayor’s sworn statement of assets. The story challenged by Villamayor reported that he accumulated wealth at an astonishing rate at a time the country was in crisis. The story noted that not long before he had worked for the newspaper. Villamayor alleged that publication of his statement violated legal dispositions that guarantee the privacy of documented ownership. He demanded that the managers of the newspaper be prosecuted and punished. The plaintiff later broadened his complaint by accusing Zuccolillo of “usurping public functions and aggravated bribery.” Villamayor earlier had accused the publisher of ABC Color of alleged defamation and libel because of the publication of Villamayor’s alleged involvement in corrupt activities at the state-owned National Workers Bank, which later went bankrupt. Eduardo Nicolás Bó, editor of the newspaper Noticias, on November 12 stood by the published story which alleged that Reinaldo Domínguez Dibb, president of the National Council of Sports, fraudulently declared himself the winner of bids for gaming concessions. Bó defended his story during a hearing called by Judge Carlos Ortiz into the complaint filed by Domínguez Dibb against the Noticias editor on charges of defamation. General (ret.) Pedro Florentín on November 19 voiced a death threat against Humberto Rubín, editor of the popular radio station Radio Ñandutí, because of a comment he made that allegedly was offensive to the armed forces. After warning Rubín that he was in danger, the general said on the air, “We’re not going to shoot at you with a little slingshot, we’ll do it another way.” Radio Nacional del Paraguay, the Paraguayan government station, was sprayed with gunfire before dawn on November 25. The shots were fired by unknown assailants who rode in a van which fled the scene. On November 30, a group of drunks linked to some politicians and government officials violently attacked journalists employed by different media who were covering a meeting between representatives of the government and labor unions. The journalists assaulted were Carlos Sosa and Gustavo Quintana, Ultima Hora newspaper; Alberto Ledezma, Noticias; José Cardozo, ABC Color; Julio Lezcano and Nisvaldo Villalba, Channel 4 television; Juan Ruiz Díaz, Channel 13 and Mario Bracho, Channel 9. According to various accounts, the attackers were sent by top members of the Reconciliation Movement, affiliated with the ruling Colorado Party, including Interior Minister Walter Bower and Senator Angel Barchini. Bower tendered his resignation following the incident, but President Luis González Macchi refused to accept it. Directors of the Association of Private Radio and Television Owners (APRAP) and of the Association of Inland Radio Station Owners (APRI), called on the government on December 25 to close some 70 pirate radio stations around the country. They said the illegal stations, many of which claim to be “community radios,” evade paying taxes and do not meet technical requirements. For those reasons they can charge unusually low advertising rates, which makes competing against them nearly impossible. The three telephone lines of radio station Nanawa, located in Luque, eight miles from Asunción, were cut for several hours on December 30 by the state-run National Telecommunications Administration (ANTELCO). Nanawa uses the lines to keep in touch with its listeners. The station management believes the incident is a government reprisal for a call made by former general Lino Oviedo, who is wanted on charges of being the alleged mastermind behind the murder of vice president Luis María Argaña on March 23, 1999. Juan Carlos Bernabé, the station director, was also fined 13 million guaranís (US$3,500) on January 26 for alleged technical irregularities. On January 3, journalist Pepa Kostianosky and lawyer Jorge Vasconcellos presented their defense against charges arising out of an interview with Oviedo, currently a fugitive from justice, aired during a program broadcast on December 29 by station 9.70 and published in part the following day by ABC Color. The radio program that carried the interview was conducted by Alberto Vargas Peña, Hermes Rafael Saguier, Bernardino Cano Radil and Adolfo Ferreiro. Jorge Vasconcellos told Noticias that the media he considered to be supporters of Oviedo use freedom of the press to commit crimes. On February 16, Vargas and Saguier, two of the accused, appeared before presiding judge Juan Carlos Paredes. They argued there is no crime in interviewing the former general and therefore no need to present a defense. A court of appeals on January 4 sentenced Osvaldo Domínguez Dibb, publisher of the newspaper La Nación, to pay a fine of 300 million guaranis (US$85,000) or go to jail for nine months. The sentence culminated a trial brought by Supreme Court Justice Carlos Fernández Gadea on charges of defamation. The justice was offended by an article published in La Nación on September 12, 1997, that said in part “we Paraguayans are corrupt because our justice system is the most corrupt and incompetent in the world.” Emiliano Rolón, the presiding judge, sentenced Domínguez Dibb on September 20, 1999, to four months in prison or a fine of 60 million guaranis (US$17,000). The sentence was increased later by the court of appeals. Senator José Francisco Appleyard – currently barred from office – on February 4 accused the editor of Noticias, Eduardo Nicolás Bó, of violating his right to privacy. Appleyard is being tried in connection with serious incidents in March 1999 following the murder of Vice President Luis María Argaña. Seven young demonstrators against the government of then president Raúl Cubas were killed in those incidents. Appleyard has been released from prison and is now under house arrest, where he supposedly should be keeping completely rested because of a heart condition. Noticias, however, published photos of the politician playing soccer with friends in his garden. That led Appleyard to charge before criminal prosecutor Dionisio Frutos that Domínguez Dibb had violated his right to privacy. The case is still in the courts. A criminal court of appeals on February 11 lifted the restriction that prevented Domínguez Dibb from leaving the country or selling his properties. The restrictions were ordered last year by Judge Pedro Mayor Martínez following an accusation brought by the National Congress against Domínguez Dibb and other journalists, alleging he imperiled the constitutional order by publishing certain stories in the newspaper. On February 15, Diego Wasmosy, son of former president Juan Carlos Wasmosy, executive director of Red Multimedia, announced the closing of the newspaper El Día, effective March 1. He said the paper, owned by Red Multimedia, was closing because of financial difficulties.