(IPYS/IFEX) – Journalist Luisa Marinés López, of the daily “El Tiempo”, in Puerto La Cruz, Anzoátegui state, eastern Venezuela, has been pressured by government officials after reporting on an event in which the state governor participated. On 20 September 2003, López, who has been covering Anzoátegui state government activities for “El Tiempo” for six years, […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Journalist Luisa Marinés López, of the daily “El Tiempo”, in Puerto La Cruz, Anzoátegui state, eastern Venezuela, has been pressured by government officials after reporting on an event in which the state governor participated.
On 20 September 2003, López, who has been covering Anzoátegui state government activities for “El Tiempo” for six years, was asked to report on an opposition event entitled, “Down with Poverty” (“Derrocar la Pobreza”). The event was organised by Anzoátegui State Governor David de Lima and the Anzoátegui Democratic Coordinating Committee (Coordinadora Democrática de Anzoátegui), an association of non-governmental organisations and political parties that oppose President Hugo Chávez’s government. Regional and national opposition leaders attended the event, which took place on Caracas Avenue in Barcelona, the state capital.
During the closing address, Governor de Lima announced his candidacy for re-election and mentioned that several municipal leaders, including some mayors, would also run for election.
The information was published in “El Tiempo” on 21 September. The same day, regional government representatives, via Public Relations Director Marcos Dietrich, complained about the news item and accused the journalist of waging a “smear campaign” against the governor. In a telephone call to one of the newspaper’s editors, Dietrich questioned the journalist’s work.
The journalist was asked to solicit reactions from regional leaders and the Democratic Coordinating Committee for a subsequent article. In telephone calls to the newspaper’s management, Dietrich again expressed dissatisfaction with the journalist’s reporting. Finally, Dietrich went to the newspaper’s offices, accompanied by his assistant, Cruz Moreno, to talk to the company’s business relations manager about the issue.
According to López, the incident continued to generate criticism and began to involve other journalists. “A colleague told me that Cruz Moreno had told her two days after the publication of the article about the Caracas Avenue event that my attitude ‘was putting my career at risk’,” López told IPYS.
López also said the government officials spoke with the National Journalists’ Association’s regional secretary to express dissatisfaction with her professional conduct.
The journalist said that she has worked under three different regional governments and throughout that period she has carried out her work in a “balanced manner when reporting on Anzoátegui government activities.”
“I have never felt pressured by a government and nobody has tried to discredit my work with my colleagues or the journalists’ association. This is the first time that a source has tried to influence my reporting. I think this is undemocratic and inappropriate in a country where freedom of expression is supposedly respected,” said López.
