Venezuela

VENEZUELA WHEREAS • a number of complaints have been presented to the lAPA 47th General Assembly regarding incidents in Venezuela, which amount to serious threats to the freedom of expression there • according to the complainants, the media in Venezuela is the target of pressure by the government, through officials and the chief of the office of the President • Venezuelan journalists have been attacked in their homes and are threatened with physical violence to themselves and their families • in the last few hours the Caracas mayor's office ordered without prior notice the closure of a rotary press belonging to El Nacional, alleging "noise pollution" in spite of the faet that this plant has functioned in an uninterupted form for 11 years • the government has been accused of promoting a campaign, waged through certain print and broadcast media, against journalists and other media with the apparent aim of frightening and intimidating them from repocting swiftly and accurately THE 47th GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES • to ask the President of Venezuela, Carlos Andrés Pérez, to disavow as violations of his nation's Constitution acts of public officials that constitute a systematic campaign of intimidation against journalists and the news media and which threaten freedom of expression and the people's right to be informed swiftly and accurately • to send an lAPA mission to Venezuela to demonstrate the Association's concern about the climate, contrary to freedom of expression, created by the actions of government officials • to urge the lAPA members of the media in Venezuela and other countries of the Hemisphere to join together in defense of freedom of expression and to reject any type of campaign, including any publicity campaign, against journalists and the news media in Venezuela.