Bolivia

BOLIVIA In a climate of unrest caused by the layoffs of 7,000 government employees and failure of the government that took office in August to meet the needs of some regions of Bolivia, the media and journalists in Potosi refused to air a program called "Goni (the president's nickname) Replies to the People." They also refused to cover the president's visit and activities. A general strike has been under way in the Potosi department (state) since November 8. President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, accompanied by a small entourage, went there on November 10, a local holiday celebration, and was greeted with hostility. He clearly had hoped to settle the strike through direct talks with authorities and organizations. He also planned to make the broadcast as part of a new style of contact with the public started by his administration. Similar programs were aired in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz in September. It was not clear whether the decision to block the president's access to news coverage came from the Civic Committee of Potosi, the journalists union, the Media Chamber or all three together. The government asked journalists from La Paz to come to the city to report on what was happening there. Sanchez de Lozada called the action a violation of his constitutional right to freedom of expression, blaming the Civic Committee as well as denouncing a conspiracy of his political foes to destablize democracy in the country. However, in the middle of this tense and confused situation, the program finally was broadcast on the night of November 11 and Sanchez returned to La Paz Nov. 12. The Civic Committee announced that the strike would continue. With the change of government August 6, there has been no more talk of a constitutional reform bill, which had strong support in a committee of the previous Chamber of Deputies and which sought to prohibit media monopolies and cartels and establish mechanisms "facilitating pluralism and the free participation of investors." Between last September and October, the National Electoral Court introduced new restrictions on the press, this time affecting its ability to inform the public. Under the restrictions, the Electoral Law would expressly prohibit the dissemination of analyses, trends and projections of the early results of national or municipal elections until two hours after the polling booths close, to avoid any undue influence on the electorate to favor a certain candidate. The congressional debate on this matter and, to a large extent, media action, averted approval by the Congress. In 1991, the same court set a spending ceiling on campaign advertising in the media and reqUired that advertising rates be listed. On January 28, 1993, an incendiary bomb was discovered at the door of one of the owners of Channel 2 TV. A similar attempt was made on Channel 6 News Director Cayetano Llobet. The threats were seen as a bid to stop the broadcast of programs reporting on alleged corruption in the public and private sectors. In February 1993, journalists Carlos Meza and Eduardo Perez Iribarne received anonymous threats. In February 1993, the Interior Ministry announced the "discovery" of a terrorist plot against the media and journalists directed by imprisoned subversives. The ministry offered to provide police protection so journalists could work freely. In March 1993, the chairman of the Constitutional Committee of the Chamber of Deputies announced that he had requested a study, for a future constitutional reform project, of a bill to prohibit media monopolies and cartels under the pretext of guaranteeing "information pluralism." Currently, the Bolivian Constitution prohibits monopolies in the private sector and guarantees freedom of the press and of expression. There is no journalists' colegio in Bolivia. A regulation requires members of the Press Union Federation to be university graduates, but in practice this requirement is not enforced.