In this period, no serious or particularly significant events have been recorded or reported that affected freedom of the press.
In this period, no serious or particularly significant events have been recorded or reported that affected freedom of the press.
The new president, Yamandú Orsi, elected in a runoff last November, took office in March with a five-year term. Since then, the media, journalists, and social media users have been able to carry out their activities without any obstacles or hindrances.
However, the right to public information, guaranteed by law since 2008, shows a certain bureaucratic lethargy, as some authorities ignore the law and the transparency obligations it imposes on them. It has been repeated under previous governments as well, prompting repeated calls and criticism from journalists, experts, and political leaders about the authorities’ “zealous secrecy” and the existence of a “culture of secrecy.”
In another vein, isolated actions by judges and prosecutors affect press freedom and undermine the free exercise of journalistic activity. In recent days, a court ruling, upheld by an appeals court, on the right of reply forced the weekly Búsqueda to publish the “truth” (in quotation marks) of a high-ranking official who was reported to have been involved in a multimillion-dollar contract currently under review by the authorities.
According to Búsqueda’s public account, the official involved was offered space (in a letter to the editor) to present his version or the opportunity for an interview to inform and respond to the concerns raised. The alternative was not accepted, and in the judicial proceedings, there was no attempt or willingness to test the truth of what was reported, nor to investigate whether there was negligence or malicious reporting.
For the judges, the law provides, as Búsqueda emphasized, that “the media has the right to assert that the reference it disseminated is accurate while the person mentioned has the right to assert that the reference is erroneous or false.” Clearly, this is not the intended purpose of the right of reply, which seeks to protect ordinary citizens, sometimes defenseless. Still, it does not apply to public officials — who are certainly not helpless before the media — when information concerns their conduct, especially in cases involving public resources.
Under the justification of the fight against drug trafficking and money laundering, several articles included in the draft Budget Law establish a kind of “easy trigger” mechanism for tax inspectors, who could intervene and lift the secrecy of any citizen’s bank accounts without providing grounds, without the account holders’ knowledge, and without any judicial guarantee as currently required. Several opposition parties oppose this bill, arguing that such measures have been employed by several Latin American governments to harass opponents and companies, as well as to undermine press freedom.
The IAPA’s members in Uruguay consider it appropriate to arrange a visit with President Orsi to invite him to sign the Chapultepec and Salta declarations.
