Venezuela

VENEZUELA Threats of a structural nature, as well as specific incidents, impede the normal development of press freedom. The proposal by President Rafael Caldera's government to create the concept of "right to truthful information" is of great concern. The government intends to bring this proposal before the Ibero American Summit of Heads of State to be held in Margarita Island in November. This is a question of stubbornness by Venezuelan officials, who have held a series of forums on the subject in Puebla, Mexico, and Caracas. Both forums were sponsored by UNESCO and, because of that, invitations were extended to IAPA representatives. The IAPA delegates opposed the inclusion of this topic in the Summit, because it would give governments decision-making power on the subject and at the same time give them the power to judge what is truthful information. This would mean the disappearance of freedom of expression in our hemisphere. In the beginning, the government had said that it was not interested in establishing regulations, but in creating a concept of truthful reporting "with the intention of protecting the credibility of the media." However, each time the topic is brought up, the concept becomes more encompassing, to the point that the Venezuelan Foreign Minister in a speech to the United Nations a few weeks ago actually declared that media only have the right to report the news and not to give opinions or to take sides in ideological debates, or they would be committing a criminal offense. His actual words were, "All the power that we assign to the media and which is indispensable for the functioning of democratic values would be lost if the media opted to abandon its role and to give opinions rather than facts or to make themselves players in the daily battle of ideas." This very serious warning, made in an international venue, was later ratified in Caracas by the same Foreign Minister in statements to Venezuelan and foreign journalists: "Caldera proposed that the media's obligation to disseminate only truthful information be discussed in the VII Thero American Summit of presidents and chiefs of state in November. The sense is that the media must report the truth and assume responsibility for not converting information into opinion." This is of extreme importance and concern for Latin American countries. The blatant exception is the Cuban regime, which ought to feel very pleased and supported by the Venezuelan stance, since that government already considers itself the absolute owner of the concept of truth and that the only truthful information is that generated by official sources and the head of state himself. The IAPA ought to ask its members to issue a hemispheric declaration to alert heads of state and make them conscious of the danger to freedom of expression. All this is being done behind the shield of "innocent and tidy justifications" which makes those who oppose the measure appear to be advocates of falsehood and deceit. But the reality is that the concept is designed to mask the truth so that there can be no discussion of ideas, opinions, and positions and to cover up the fact that it really deals with government interference. In other matters, the Supreme Court of Justice has not yet decided the request by the Venezuelan Press Bloc to strike down the Law for the Practice of Journalism, which went into effect at the end of 1994. The law requires licensing of journalists and mandates jail sentences for journalists and others who do not conform with the requirement. The Venezuelan Press Bloc has stated that it never intended to weaken fundamental rights of unionizing or association, but to improve collective bargaining and labor conditions. A lawyer on Margarita Island in the state of Nueva Esparta was sent to jail because he hosted a radio opinion show without holding a journalist's license or being registered with the Journalists' Colegio. His jail sentence was based on criminal penalties in the Law for the Practice of Journalism. In the same manner, court decisions and constitutional exemptions have damaged freedom of expression. One of these involves El Periodiquito in the city of Maracay, Araguay State, which courts attempted to silence in this fashion. Fortunately, the newspaper appealed and won. El Impulso of Barquisimeto, whose owner, Juan M. Carmona P., is the current president of the Venezuelan Press Bloc, exhausted administrative means before the National Executive to demand its rights not to be discriminated against in the forgiveness of debts because of its disagreement with official policies. El Impulso issued repeated declarations protesting the discrimination to which it had been subjected and asking the government to correct the situation. When the newspaper received no response, it interpreted the administrative silence as a negative answer, and resorted to the Supreme Court to demand its legitimate rights from the Venezuelan state. There have also been attacks against journalists who have uncovered alleged malfeasance in the executive branch. Caracas El Nacional columnist Alfredo Pena , for example, received "visits" by police authorities who broke into his offices and removed important evidence. El Nacional's version of the incident has not been denied by authorities.