(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada to punish those responsible for a wave of threats and violence against media outlets that has accompanied a government crackdown on opposition protests in Bolivia. “The army and intelligence services have been implicated in attacks on the press, and we call for investigations into […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada to punish those responsible for a wave of threats and violence against media outlets that has accompanied a government crackdown on opposition protests in Bolivia.
“The army and intelligence services have been implicated in attacks on the press, and we call for investigations into the various cases so that those responsible can be punished,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in letter to the president.
“We also call on you to give very clear instructions to the state security forces to respect press freedom, without awaiting the results of the investigations,” he added.
An explosion on 15 October 2003 destroyed a transmitter that serviced Radio Pio XII, a Catholic radio station based in Oruro (200 kilometres south of the capital, La Paz), and the Televisión Universitaria television station. Both stations are now unable to broadcast. The radio station’s managers said two masked men overpowered the caretaker and placed an explosive charge on the antenna. Government officials had previously criticised the station for its coverage of the crackdown.
During the preceding three days, Radio Pio XII in Cochabamba (south-east of La Paz), the Erbol (Educación Radiofónica de Bolivia) network of radio stations, and Radio Pachamama and Radio Celestial, based in El Alto and La Paz, had received threats.
On 15 October, intelligence agents confiscated that day’s issues of the daily “El Diario” and the weekly “Pulso”. The confiscated issue of “El Diario” included a front-page editorial supporting calls for the president’s resignation, while “Pulso” reported that United States embassy military experts were advising the Bolivian armed forces on how to handle the crackdown.
Monica Medina, the head of the Radio Televisión Popular (RTP) television station, reported on 15 October that her phone lines had been cut. RTP’s news director, Eduardo Godoy, said a new line was immediately installed. The station is critical of the government and had reportedly received anonymous threats that it would be attacked or its journalists would be targeted on the street if it remained on the air.
The pro-opposition Cadena A television station also reported receiving threats from army personnel. Its programming was briefly suspended on 15 October and replaced by music. The programming resumed with a message from Station Director Amalia Pando, saying she supported her staff in the face of external threats. Agence France-Presse quoted Labour Minister Adalberto Kuajara as saying there had been a “misunderstanding” and that the government respected press freedom.
Also on 15 October, Walter Chávez, editor of the Bolivian edition of the French monthly “Le Monde Diplomatique” and the bimonthly “El Juguete Rabioso”, accused intelligence agents of harassing him in La Paz. He said he had received many telephone threats and had been forced to suspend a special issue, due to be distributed on 16 October, in which the newspaper was going to take a position on the president’s resignation.
Carlos Colque, the Erbol radio network’s correspondent in Patacamaya (about 100 kilometres south of La Paz), was hit in the back by a rubber bullet fired by a soldier just after being threatened by an army lieutenant-colonel.
