(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – On the morning of 6 March 2004, the “El Diario del Fin del Mundo” newspaper’s office was set on fire. The newspaper is basd in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego province, 2,000 kilometres south of Buenos Aires. According to Roberto Cabeza, the newspaper’s director, the police and fire department have determined that the fire […]
(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – On the morning of 6 March 2004, the “El Diario del Fin del Mundo” newspaper’s office was set on fire. The newspaper is basd in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego province, 2,000 kilometres south of Buenos Aires. According to Roberto Cabeza, the newspaper’s director, the police and fire department have determined that the fire was set intentionally.
This was the latest in a series of attacks against the press in Ushuaia. On 1 March, unidentified individuals smashed the back window and threw paint on journalist Alfredo Valdéz’s car, which was parked in front of his house. Valdéz hosts the “La ciudad despierta” programme on Radio Nacional radio station. Héctor “Lito” Lavia, director and owner of the Ushuaia-based “Prensa” newspaper, had previously been the target of a similar attack. “Prensa” had reported that Provincial Coordination Minister Eduardo Cóppola was living in a house that belonged to the Río Grande Municipality. On 16 February, when Valdéz interviewed Cóppola on his radio programme, the minister said, “Journalists who criticise government officials should be investigated.”
On the night of 1 March, Carmen Miranda, a journalist for “El Diario del Fin del Mundo” and secretary-general of the Ushuaia Press Union (Sindicato de Prensa de Ushuaia), was approached in the street by members of the provincial police force’s investigations branch. Two individuals, one of whom identified himself as “Commissioner Fernández”, asked Miranda questions about the homes of other local journalists. They said they needed the information in order to provide additional protection to the journalists and prevent attacks similar to those against Lavia and Valdéz. The following day, in a statement broadcast over the radio, Provincial Security Secretary Rubén Cena apologised for the fact that proper procedure was not followed, but said there was a plan to guard journalists’ homes.
After the fire at “El Diario del Fin del Mundo” and protests by local journalists, Cóppola was forced to resign from his position on 8 March. Governor Mario Jorge Colazo met with the press union and, after the meeting, described the fire as “a terrorist act”. He apologised to the media, saying, “More could have been done”, and promised to “thoroughly investigate [the incident] and ensure the safety of the individuals affected and their property.”
PERIODISTAS expressed concern and called for an investigation into the attacks, punishment of those responsible and an explanation from Cóppola. “With respect to the questioning of Miranda, it is alarming that in a democratic society government officials are negligent to the point that their attempt to defend journalists could be perceived as an attack.”
