(IPYS/IFEX) – The “extraordinary measures” announced during the first week of May 2001 by President Hugo Chávez Frías have generated a great deal of concern among Venezuelan institutions and individuals. On 8 May, Venezuela’s legal representative before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Hernán Escarrá, noted that this initiative could well include a state of […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – The “extraordinary measures” announced during the first week of May 2001 by President Hugo Chávez Frías have generated a great deal of concern among Venezuelan institutions and individuals. On 8 May, Venezuela’s legal representative before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Hernán Escarrá, noted that this initiative could well include a state of emergency.
The concept of a “state of emergency” is foreseen in Articles 337, 338 and 339 of the constitution. There is cause for concern because such a measure is applied at times of national upheaval and permits the president to suspend certain constitutional guarantees, including freedom of expression.
José Gregorio Salazar, president of the Press Workers’ Union, expressed some reservations about the measures. Given the fact that the Venezuelan government has adopted a confrontational attitude towards the media, Salazar fears that under a state of emergency restrictions on freedom of expression and opinion could be used to limit what the media can report on.
Deputy for the governing party Omar Meza Ramírez, member of the party’s National Tactical Command (Comando Táctico Nacional, CTN), expressed his annoyance with Escarrá for having revealed information on the government’s political move, an act which has damaged the executive’s image.
A number of unions have asked President Chávez to shed light on the situation. Nevertheless, he has thus far failed to expand on his announcement made at the beginning of May, and has hardly made reference to the crisis the country is going through as a result of the high levels of poverty and crime.
Recommended Action
Send letters of support to the Venezuelan Press Block:
Luisa Chiossone
Secretary-General
Venezuelan Press Block
Tel: +58 212 561 7704 / 9880
E-mail: luichi@telcel.net.ve
Send appeals to the minister of external relations:
– requesting information on the “extraordinary measures” announced by the government
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
Colonel Luis Alfonso Dávila
Minister of External Relations
Tel: +58 212 861 0318 / 860 0209
E-mail: ministro@mre.gov.ve
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
