(FIP/IFEX) – The following is the full text of a statement by FIP issued on 23 July 1998: We, the women and men belonging to Latin American unions, meeting at the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation in Turin, Italy, declare our support for the journalists of “100% Noticias” and the workers of […]
(FIP/IFEX) – The following is the full text of a statement by FIP issued on
23 July 1998:
We, the women and men belonging to Latin American unions, meeting at the
International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation in
Turin, Italy, declare our support for the journalists of “100% Noticias” and
the workers of Telenica 8, who are the targets of a US$ 1,250,000 suit by
the company Zeta Gas de Nicaragua for alleged financial and moral damages.
The company’s action came after Telenica 8 re-broadcast and followed up on a
report on the television news show “60 Minutes”, which is broadcast by a
television channel in the United States, that linked the multi-national
company, headquartered in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and owned by the Zaragoza
brothers, to international drug trafficking.
In spite of the fact that “100% Noticias” gave air-time for clarification of
the report – during which a manager from Zeta Gas de Nicaragua declared
that, following the report, sales increased by twenty per cent and therefore
no economic damage had been caused to the company – legal action was
nevertheless taken.
This action threatens to silence press freedom in Nicaragua, especially with
the development of investigative journalism that covers governmental
corruption and the drug trafficking that exist in the country.
We, the trade unionists of Latin America, offer our solidarity to Nicaraguan
journalism and to the newsmen and newswomen of “100% Noticias” in
particular.
For the fundamental human right to inform and be informed, long live freedom
of the press in Nicaragua.
Victor Brarklan Cristiano Ruiz
UOGRA Sindicato Metalurgico
de ABC
Argentina Brasil
Ruben Cortina Giselt Pereira
SEC ICEM
Argentina Brasil
