Venezuela

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today condemned and called for an end to harassment of Ecuadorean journalists who collaborated in the “Panama Papers” international investigation.

A change in government after 17 years spells editorial aftershocks for 24-hour news station.

Blaming the refusal of the government to sell it newsprint, the independent Venezuelan daily El Carabobeño printed its final edition on 17 March 2016.

In 2010, deputies of the ruling Socialist Party approved a measure banning journalists from the press balcony. Instead, they were relegated to a cramped room where they could monitor congress only by watching the sessions on a state TV channel.

In a lot of contexts, balance between privacy and comfort is an issue of convenience. In Venezuela, where in order to buy food supplies you must slide both thumbs through a fingerprint scanner and give a big spectrum of personal information, is an issue of survival.

On 2 and 3 December 2015, international correspondents who arrived in Venezuela to cover the upcoming parliamentary elections reported that their audiovisual equipment was confiscated by the authorities at the Simón Bolívar International Airport near Caracas.

Venezuelan radio show host Héctor Alfredo Castillo was attacked in the central city of Valencia, 135 km west of Caracas. Castillo was in his car when he was intercepted by two men on a motorcycle. One of them shot at him pointblank.

The IAHCR has granted precautionary measures to Venezuelan journalists Miguel Henrique Otero, Teodoro Petkoff, Alberto Federico Ravell and his daughter Isabel Cristina Ravell, given the serious acts of harassment and persecution by the government for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

Venezuela’s human rights record, including as a member of the Human Rights Council, should preclude it from serving another term on the council, according to 34 international and Latin American human rights groups.

“The court stated that Venezuela violated freedom of expression by punishing RCTV for its critical editorial line in an attempt to silence dissent. We now urge Venezuelan authorities to comply with the ruling and return RCTV back to the airwaves,” said CPJ.

At least five leading opposition candidates have beeb disqualified from running for office in Venezuela’s upcoming elections.

In addition to the well-publicized arbitrary arrests and prosecutions of opposition politicians, Venezuelan authorities brought criminal charges against dozens of lesser-known critics over the past year.

Journalists Beatriz Lara Mendoza and Alfredo Parada of El Aragueño newspaper were arrested and strip-searched after being mistakenly summoned to a police station where dangerous criminals were being held.

With traditional Venezuelan news outlets shying away from critical coverage of the government, a handful of upstart websites have vigorously assumed this watchdog role, journalists and media.

A court order in Venezuela prevents 22 executives and representatives of news media, who are involved in a lawsuit filed by National Assembly President, from leaving the country.

“We condemn the fact that in Venezuela the government always describes as media campaigns and conspiracies any information that can be critical or that points out wrongdoing,” said the Inter American Press Association.