RSF: Venezuela among the worst press freedom offenders in the region

[spanza]

The status of press freedom in Venezuela has always been a source of concern for Reporters without Borders (RSF). In the Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2009 released on Tuesday in Paris, the non-governmental organization warns of a "major decline" affecting press freedom in Venezuela, "where President Hugo Chávez's administration kept changing the rules that govern broadcasting with the aim of steadily silencing its critics."

"The sudden withdrawal of the licenses of 34 regional radio and TV stations in August 2009 was part of the strategy," RSF said. Referring to the country —ranked 124th in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2009— the Paris-based international organization stresses that "already badly placed in the 2008 index, Venezuela is now among the region's worst press freedom offenders, close to Colombia (126th) and Mexico (tied 137th)", Efe reported.

According to the report, "the broadcast landscape was shattered by the years of 'media war' that followed the 11 April 2002 coup that briefly removed Hugo Chavez from power. Among the four television channels that backed the coup, the oldest and most popular, Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), had to give up its terrestrial frequency to the public cultural channel Televisora Venezolana Social (Teves), on 27 May 2007, but was able to resume broadcasts on cable. Televen and Venevisión hung on to their frequencies by adjusting their editorial line."

A lone voice
The report issued by the group, also known by its French acronym RSF, says that the Venezuelan private TV news channel Globovisión "alone kept up its criticism of the government. Hugo Chavez himself saw to it that the small news channel broadcasting only to Caracas and the surrounding area was sued for 'breaking electoral law' the day after regional elections on 23 November 2008. In the meantime, its headquarters has come under attack several times by radical pro-Chavez militants, whom the president ended up condemning. Globovisión is the sole terrestrial exception to state control."

Mandatory broadcasts nationwide
The watchdog monitoring media freedoms worldwide referred to the mandatory broadcasts of Chávez's speeches. "It is under this heading subjected to the regime of the 'cadenas' (marathon speeches), which under Article 10 of the Law on social responsibility in radio and television (Resorte law), adopted in November 2004, theoretically allows the government, in practice the head of state, to simultaneously requisition all terrestrial media for live and unlimited speeches." The NGO added: "Media, whether public or private, are forced under threat of a fine, or even an 'official suspension' to link up to the frequency of state-run Venezolana de Television (VTV). The 'cadenas' are sometimes devoted to commemorations, more often to propaganda and almost always to diatribes against the enemies of the Bolivarian revolution."

According to the drafters of the Press Freedom Index, "Hugo Chavez made 1,816 of these speeches between the date of his first mandate on 2 February 1999 and 19 December 2008, talking for a total of 1,179 hours, equal to 49 full days. The campaign for the referendum allowing unlimited presidential terms that was easily won by Hugo Chávez on 15 February 2009 further deepened media polarization."

Violence against journalists
RSF said that Venezuela's squeeze on media has led to violent acts against journalists, "against a background of heightened insecurity, the start of the year was marked by an upsurge in attacks on journalists regardless of political leanings."

In the part of the index related to Central America, the report says that press freedom "sinks" in this part of the hemisphere, where Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua show a clear deterioration compared to previous years.

The Honduran case is the other most striking development, where "the 28 June coup d'état took a heavy toll on press freedom," as reported in the index.