(IPYS/IFEX) – On 9 January 2006, the National Council for Children and Adolescents’ Rights (el Consejo Nacional de Derechos del Niño y del Adolescente, CNDNA) in the municipality of Irribarren, state of Lara, in western Venezuela, notified the newspaper “TalCual” that administrative proceedings had been opened against it. The paper allegedly violated the “right” to […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 9 January 2006, the National Council for Children and Adolescents’ Rights (el Consejo Nacional de Derechos del Niño y del Adolescente, CNDNA) in the municipality of Irribarren, state of Lara, in western Venezuela, notified the newspaper “TalCual” that administrative proceedings had been opened against it. The paper allegedly violated the “right” to live with honor, a good reputation and privacy of Rosinés Chávez Rodríguez, daughter of President Hugo Chávez, by publishing an op-ed piece by humorist Laureano Márquez on 25 November 2005.
The cautionary measure established by the CNDNA forbids Márquez from publishing any kind of article and/or carrying out any public action which may allude to the president’s daughter directly or indirectly. It also forbids the editor of the newspaper, Teodoro Petfoff, from publishing or broadcasting any such article in any media.
These resolutions are based on article 126 of the Organic Law for the Protection of Children and Adolescents (LOPNA), which states that, once a threat or violation against a minor is ascertained, the competent authority may take action as he or she sees fit. The law does not mention specific measures regarding informative liberties.
On 12 January, in a “TalCual” editorial, Petkoff backed Márquez and declared that the child’s right to “a good reputation and a private life” had not been violated. He pointed out that Márquez had based his articled on a comment made in public by the president about his daughter’s preoccupation with the horse which appears on the National Coat of Arms, and his own humorous musings on the subject. He also declared that the so-called “defense of the child” hides restrictions to the exercise of freedom of speech.
