The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) said on Tuesday that, in the last six months in Venezuela, there have been constant raids, threats and persecution of journalists investigating cases of corruption by senior officials of the Chavista regime.
The IAPA indicated, in its interim report, which should be approved at the mid-year meeting that began today, that cases of physical violence, threats and attacks against journalists covering last November's regional and local elections were also added by police and military authorities, “armed paramilitary groups and organized by the Government”.
“The confiscation of El Nacional's facilities occurred with the impudence of a judicial system that does not have autonomy from the executive branch. The judges follow direct instructions from Diosdado Cabello, going over any legal procedure,” the organization said.
He also noted that the criminal lawsuit against the Venezuelan media never reached a sentence and was stopped at the conciliation hearing, but “the precautionary measures continue after five years.”
“The civil trial that led to a $13 million award for compensation was conducted without a criminal sentence or justification of the incredible final amount,” he added.
The IAPA stated that the Army's action that took the facilities with “long arms and evicted all workers was done without any legal or lawful procedure.”
“The valuation (appraisal) of these facilities at 10 million dollars to hand over the building to Cabello as private property was irregular,” he stressed.
He recalled that on February 7, the award of the headquarters of El Nacional to Cabello was finalized, which was described by the newspaper as an “irregular and clandestine judicial auction”, since “the auction posters on which the date, time and minimum amount must be publicly reported for those interested make their offer” and without the presence of witnesses.
Another attack recorded by the IAPA was the blocking “without judicial support, in a discretionary and absolutely arbitrary manner” of media portals such as El Nacional, La Patilla and Efecto Cocuyo.
This happens, he continued, instructing telephone companies to carry out the blockade, which includes transnational companies such as Telefónica, “which override their own principles of non-violation of human rights.”
On Saturday, IAPA Executive Director Ricardo Trotti assured EFE that the panorama of press freedom in Latin America has only worsened, with a “sharpening of repression” of independent journalism and “violence” against journalists.
In the last six months, the situation of press freedom in the region has “only worsened”, with a series of dominant features in recent years such as “violence against the media and the killing and imprisonment of journalists,” Trotti denounced.
(With information from EFE)
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