(IPYS/IFEX) – On the morning of 12 April 2004, a group of 70 people, led by the mayor of Pedro Chien municipality, in Bolivar state, damaged Horizante 88.5 FM radio station’s offices. The station is located in El Palmar, 900 kilometres south of Caracas. The incident took place during the broadcast of the radio station’s […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On the morning of 12 April 2004, a group of 70 people, led by the mayor of Pedro Chien municipality, in Bolivar state, damaged Horizante 88.5 FM radio station’s offices. The station is located in El Palmar, 900 kilometres south of Caracas.
The incident took place during the broadcast of the radio station’s “El Pueblo Pregunta” programme, which is hosted by Jorge Camacho.
During a press conference, Camacho said a group of Mayor Franklyn González’s supporters yelled insults and threw sticks, bottles and other objects at the station, causing extensive damage to the building. According to Camacho, the group was following González’s orders and planned to kill him.
Camacho, whose programme airs Monday to Friday from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. (local time), said, “In El Palmar, freedom of expression and human rights are being limited and opposition voices are being attacked.”
The station’s director, Gabriela Morales, said cables, telephone lines and the building’s electrical supply were cut and the cost of the damage is in the range of US$100,000. She held municipal officials Francisco Lezama, Félix Requena, Dannis Gómez, Guaimarú Moreno and Carlos Bellorín, as well as Mayor González, responsible for the damage to the building.
“They broke the windows in the station’s main entrance doors. We were threatened and not allowed to leave the station from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. on [12 April]. This attack took place because, on our opinion programme, we have broadcast complaints about irregularities committed by González’s government,” Camacho said.
According to El Palmar’s police chief, José Gregorio Cordero, the language used by Camacho has upset the mayor’s supporters. “It appears that Camacho’s statements on the programme have not been very ‘courteous’, which has angered Mayor González. The mayor went to the radio station, accompanied by a group of El Palmar residents, and demanded more respect from the journalist,” Cordero said.
According to Cordero, the police had to use tear gas to disperse the crowd, which was threatening to destroy the station’s facilities, and the state police’s (Instituto Policial del Estado Bolívar, IPOL-Bolívar) tactical unit was called in to help prevent the violence from escalating.
The mayor denied the accusations against him, saying that the incident “did not constitute an attack on freedom of expression, but rather was a peaceful demonstration to show that insults and offensive remarks about Pedro Chien residents would not be tolerated.”
After court officials from the city of Puerto Ordaz, in Caroní municipality, Bolívar state, confirmed the extent of the damages to the station’s facilities, a complaint about the attack was filed with the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
