(IPYS/IFEX) – On 12 August 2008, bodyguards for Governor Hugo de los Reyes Chávez prevented reporters for several privately-owned media outlets from gaining access to a stage where ruling party candidates were being presented in the state of Barinas, southern Venezuela. The candidates for the Venezuelan United Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, PSUV) […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 12 August 2008, bodyguards for Governor Hugo de los Reyes Chávez prevented reporters for several privately-owned media outlets from gaining access to a stage where ruling party candidates were being presented in the state of Barinas, southern Venezuela. The candidates for the Venezuelan United Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, PSUV) are running for the governor’s seat and the mayoralties in several municipalities.
The governor’s bodyguards said that the only media outlet authorised to be on the stage at the time of the presentation was the state-owned television station Venezolana de Televisión (VTV). In addition to VTV, the bodyguards also allowed representatives of the Communication and Information Ministry’s (Ministerio de Comunicación e Información) Regional Information Office (Oficina Regional de Información, ORI) to be on the stage
IPYS condemns this type of discrimination against privately-owned media outlets.
