Bolivia

BOLIVIA After repeated complaints of discrimination, the government has told the media it will "rationalize" and "unify" the granting of official advertising. It has warned, however, that it retains the right to follow the cost-benefit principle, based on circulation surveys of the newspapers, as well as to seek a situation of "reciprocity" proportional to its "equity." It will do this through the recently installed Ministry of Government Information, which has replaced the Information Directorate that was in charge of official advertising and dissemination of the administration's news in general. The most important events that have occurred since the Midyear Meeting are: -The business group Comunicaciones El Pais, the publisher of the newspaper La Razon of La Paz and El Nuevo Dia of Santa Cruz, and the owner of a television network denounced the secret installation of surveillance microphones in their main offices. The National Police are investigating the case, with no visible progress. It is part of an illegal bugging scandal that has even reached the president. -The Press Court provided for by the Press Law of 1925 to consider and investigate errors and crimes by the press was installed in La Paz. It is expected that the same will be done in other cities. -The National Association of Journalists approved a Code of Ethics similar to the one of the Labor Federation of Press Workers of Bolivia. -The main newspapers and television chains set up a Foundation for the Development of Journalism in Bolivia to improve journalists' professionalism. The newspaper Hoy, which published an investigative series about the use of children in television programs with sensationalistic sexual content, was attacked in June by an economic group that owns several broadcast outlets. It called executives of the newspaper "leftists [and] ex-guerrillas who receive benefits from the current government." -During the Chapultepec Forum, the Inter American Press Association presented a detailed study comparing Ecuadorean legislation and the principles of Chapultepec. Based on the study it can be concluded that while the Constitution has some principles that restrict freedom of expression, the true threats can be found in various regulations in the Code of Criminal Procedure. So far, the National Congress has not begun to consider the constitutional reforms that should be approved to guarantee complete freedom of expression in accordance with the Declaration of Chapultepec, which has been endorsed by the legislature's main leaders.