2005 World Press Freedom Review_Venezuela
By Nayeli Urquiza Haas
The administration of President Hugo Chávez tightened its grip on the press in 2005, while groups close to the government, including the so-called "Círculos Bolivarianos" (Bolivarian Circles), hampered journalists’ ability to report. President Chávez’s government introduced harsher penalties for libel, defamation and "desacato" (insult), which resulted in a growing number of journalists appearing before the courts. The controversial Social Responsibility Law also went into effect in 2005, underlining the decline of freedom of expression in Venezuela.
International organisations condemned the legal restraints used to silence journalists, but President Chávez and his cabinet ministers disregarded them. Instead, they took every chance to verbally attack those not aligned with the official position. Officials at all levels of government found ways to accuse the media of "terrorism, treason, pro-Americanism, and subversive behaviour."
On 10 January, Patricia Poleo, a columnist for the Caracas-based newspaper La Nueva Opinión, was called to testify in the case of former Attorney General Danilo Anderson, who was killed in car bomb attack in November 2004. Anderson was in charge of investigating the coup d’état that briefly deposed Chávez in 2002. According to Poleo’s reports, published in December 2004 and January 2005, Anderson had allegedly extorted several lawyers and prosecutors in exchange for halting the investigation. Poleo was charged with violating anti-corruption laws and the illegal disclosure of documents from an on-going investigation. On 28 January, officers raided her home and seized files from her computer. Poleo, known as one of the government’s harshest critics and an active member of the opposition, vowed not to reveal her sources.
On 12 April, Poleo was sentenced to six months in jail for defaming Interior Minister Jesse Chacón, who accused the journalist of "inciting aggression against him." The political persecution of Poleo reached its climax on 11 November, when the prosecutor accused her of being one of the masterminds behind Anderson’s murder.
Like Poleo, Ibeysé Pacheco, director of Así es la Noticia, a Caracas-based daily, faced more than one trial in 2005 and was criminally charged after testifying as a witness. On 8 April, the Attorney General’s Office accused Pacheco of false testimony because she allegedly told Zeta magazine a different version of her court testimony about a story she published in May 2003 regarding a meeting in which the president, vice president and other cabinet ministers allegedly planned to murder opposition members. Pacheco also appealed a 2004 prison sentence for criminal libel, but it was rejected at the beginning of 2005.
Napoleón Bravo, an anchor for the television network, Venevisión, was charged on 1 March with "incitement to hate" José Vicente Rangel Seijo, the son of Sucre mayor José Vicente Rangel Ávalo and grandson of Vice President José Vicente Rangel. If sentenced, he faced up to six months in prison.
On 29 April, Marianella Salazar, a columnist for the daily newspaper El Nacional, was accused of slandering Vice President Rangel and the Governor of Miranda state, Diósdado Cabello. Salazar wrote two columns, on 11 and 18 June 2003, claiming that Rangel and Cabello received illegal money from a private company. If convicted, she faced up to two and a half years in prison.
In July, Attorney General Isaías Rodríguez Díaz opened a criminal investigation against the Caracas-based newspaper El Universal for "insulting" the national prosecutor in an editorial that criticised his office and the judiciary. In its 25 July edition, El Universal published a front-page editorial titled, "Justicia arrodillada" (Justice on its Knees), which argued that the Attorney General’s Office and the country’s courts were losing their legitimacy.
The year ended with a journalist sentenced to jail for libel and slander. Carlos Gibson, radio host of the show "Sin Bozal" (Without Muzzle), broadcast by Maxima 99.5, was sentenced to 11 months in prison. The plaintiff was Orlando Aguilar, a prominent businessman in the city of Guayana, Bolivar state. As a first time offender, he was put on probation and will have to report to a bailiff officer twice a month.
The future for press freedom in Venezuela looks even bleaker since the reforms to the Criminal Code took effect on 16 March. The amendments expanded the categories of government officials protected by "desacato" provisions to include members of the National Electoral Council, the Military High Command, the Attorney General, the Human Rights Ombudsman, and the Republic Treasury Inspector. Anyone who "offends the honour" of these public officials could face up to 20 months in jail, or even 40 if the verdict determines it was an aggravated insult of high-profile government officials, such as the President, Vice President, State Governor, Supreme Court Judges, Cabinet Ministers, or the Mayor of Caracas.
Under the new criminal code, journalists could face up to four years’ imprisonment if the defaming statement was done in public. The penalty for libel was increased from three months to two years in prison, while media owners could have their licences revoked.
Parts of the Social Responsibility Law for Radio and Television, which was signed into law by Chávez in December 2004, went into effect on 8 June. Drafted by the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), the law bans vulgar language on TV and radio in daytime hours and prohibits images and sounds related to violence, as well as alcohol and drug use. It also provides for heavy fines or the closure of stations that broadcast content that includes "incitement to war, disruptions of public order or crime," or promotes "threats to national security." As a result, some private TV networks exercised self-censorship, altering their programming and taking news and opinion programmes off the air.
The Ministry of Communications and Information, together with CONATEL, participated in Chávez’s increasingly repressive agenda. On 12 May, CONATEL temporarily shut down the community radio station Radio Alternativa de Caracas, claiming they did not have a permit to operate. They raided the station’s premises and seized the station’s transmitter. The radio station was forced off the air for two hours, but resumed its activities with a provisional transmitter.
On 3 June, Judge Luis Ortiz annulled a $US 120,000 fine imposed by CONATEL against Globovisión for allegedly evading taxes. However, days after the ruling, the Supreme Court Inspector said Ortiz could be removed because of an "undisclosed accusation against him." According to the Venezuelan Penal Forum, a lawyer’s association, 12 judges of the Superior Court Tribunal have been removed "for handing verdicts contrary to the government’s party interests" since the amendments to the Supreme Tribunal Law and the instalment of new magistrates two year ago.
On 24 October, officials of the National Tax Service (SENIAT) closed the newspaper El Impulso for 24 hours, alleging "flaws in the paper’s 2002 tax return." Armed officials raided the newspaper’s headquarters in Caracas and its printing plant in Barquisimeto state, and imposed a $US 13,900 fine. The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and the El Salvador-based NGO, PROBIDAD, said the closure was a possible act of revenge against Manuel Carmona, El Impulso’s director, who is a relative of businessman Pedro Carmona Estanga, one of the organisers of the crippling 2002 national strikes.
On 14 January, about 40 Chávez supporters threatened to lynch Daniel Ortiz, journalist and host of "En Positivo", a programme broadcast by the radio station, Geomar FM. Ortiz was covered with red paint and taken by force to a plaza in Punta de Mata, Monagas state, where they threatened to apply "popular justice." The attack was related to a comment Ortiz made during his programme against the official party, Movimiento Quinta República.
At a 21 February press conference, the Minister of Information and Communication Andrés Izarra accused British journalist Phil Gunson, a correspondent for the Miami Herald, of writing anti-Chávez propaganda for the U.S government.
On 8 July, Lina Ron, the leader of the Círculos Bolivarianos, and a group of unidentified men held and threatened Cirilo Hernández, a photographer of the daily Últimas Noticias, and reporter Mabel Sarmiento for taking pictures at a square near the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Presidential Palace. The men confiscated the film and held the journalists in an office until Ron arrived. Ron interrogated and insulted them for articles published by Últimas Noticias.
Chávez supporters were not solely responsible for the assaults on journalists. On 19 July, members of a community television station, Catia TV, were attacked while covering a student demonstration in Caracas. Demonstrators accused RCTV reporters Noé Pernía, Johan Pérez and Leidy Figueroa of working as government spies. More people joined he fray, threw broken glass at the crew and smashed their camera.
Regular citizens also attacked journalists when they disagreed with their coverage. On 12 June, students of Universidad Libre de los Andes (ULA), in Mérida state, threw Molotov cocktails at the offices of the daily Frontera because the newspaper published the criminal record of a murdered classmate. On 7 July, the newspaper Diario La Costa in Carabobo state was attacked by angry relatives of an alleged thief. On 30 July, about 100 people chanted slogans and threats outside the offices of the newspaper Notitarde. The daily believed the harassment was the result of its coverage of a fight between residents of a shanty town.
On 28 October, photographer Dorian González took pictures of a student fight while covering a story at the University of Carabobo. The students pulled out guns and ran after him. González escaped, but the students sought to retaliate by threatening reporter Angelica Rodríguez with a gun. She managed to escape by identifying herself as a journalist of another paper, but her driver, Jair Hurtado, was held hostage in exchange for González’s film.
On the same day, journalists Kenny Aguilar and Yorman Pérez of El Siglo newspaper in Aragua state were also held as hostages for about five hours by a group of people protesting on a highway near Caracas. They insulted and threatened the journalists until the National Guard broke off the protest.
On 2 November, a group of students attacked television crews for Televén, RCTV, Venevisión and Televisora Informativa del Centro (TIC TV) crews. They seized TIC TV’s equipment and punched cameraman Carlos Pardomo. On 21 November, Globovisión’s TV crew, covering the protest of an opposition party outside the General Attorney’s Office, was expelled by angry government supporters chanting insults. In October, about 30 people, presumed to be Chávez supporters, barged in the presentation ceremony of Teodoro Petkoff ‘s book about leftist movements in Venezuela. The incident occurred in Maturin, Monagas state. Petkoff is the editor of the daily TalCual, which is known for its critical stance towards the government.
Apart from people taking justice into their own hands, impunity was potentially more harmful in the long run. The murder of a photojournalist sparked a wave of criticism among international organisations. Gustavo Acevedo, a photographer for the Caracas-based daily El Globo, was reported missing on 27 June, but his body was in the morgue for more than ten days before he was identified, journalist groups complained. In a joint press release, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the International News Safety Institute (INSI) and the Venezuelan National Press Workers’ Union (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Prensa de Venezuela – SNTP) said, "Governments have a responsibility to combat impunity in cases of murders and attacks against journalists." They urged the authorities to "act swiftly and launch a transparent investigation into the journalist’s death."
On 29 June, photographer Juan Carlos Neida was held for about eight hours by presumed agents of the Military Intelligence. The El Nuevo País photographer was kidnapped while taking pictures of the site where the Director of the National Land Institute, Eliécer Otaiza, had a traffic accident in which a young lawyer died. The agents confiscated Neida’s film.
On 1 November, security guards forced David Ludovic of El Nacional to hand over a tape of interviews. Ludovic is known for his critical column, "A las Puertas del Palacio" (At the Doors of the Palace).
Not only military forces prevented journalists from reporting news. Hospital and sports stadium directors also barred reporters from reporting and investigating stories. The judiciary also prevented journalists from reporting on their activities.
Rosendo Magallanes, a reporter for El Progreso newspaper in Bolívar, was denied access to the city’s judiciary as of 10 October. New rules at courthouses will further restrict journalists’ freedom to gather information. On 8 November, the Palace of Justice in Caracas enacted restrictive rules for reporters covering the courts. Any breach of these rules will mean the closure of the press room. Reporters are no longer allowed to access the review courts, or record statements by people not involved in trials, including those who might know about violations to penal procedures. Photographers can only take pictures in the press room. These measures, ordered by Chief Magistrate Belkys Cedeńo, came a day after court officials allegedly cut off the electricity during the press conference of a judge who was relieved of her duties. In April, Cedeńo even forbade entrance to journalists carrying cameras or recorders, but the president of the Supreme Court revoked her orders.