Venezuela Rejects Press Association’s Condemnation
Monday, Mar 14, 2005
By: Sarah Wagner – Venezuelanalysis.com
Caracas, Venezuela, March 14, 2005—The Venezuelan government rejected a report released on Saturday by the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) that harshly criticized recently passed laws and claimed that freedom of expression in Venezuela was in jeopardy. "In no other country has such a total and absolute press freedom been seen," responded Venezuela’s Minister of Foreign Relations, Alí Rodríguez, adding that the IAPA, "does not have the right to interfere in the affairs of this country."
The IAPA is an association of newspaper owners based in Miami. According to the report, the recent passing of the Law of Social Responsibility in Radio and Television, the reform of the Penal Code, and the alleged domination of all branches of government to the will of the executive have given rise to self-censorship in the media. The report goes on to condemn the Venezuelan government for "reducing democratic liberties and guarantees granted to the citizens by law and with that destroying freedom of expression and freedom of the press."
During the organization's meeting in Panama City, the regional Vice President, Juan Manuel Carmona Perera, denounced Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez for his alleged "totalitarian control over the media in order to impose his political project." Before more than one hundred directors and news outlet owners, Carmona stated that, "in Venezuela Chávez rules the radio, the television, the newspapers, and the internet with an iron fist." After accusing the Venezuelan President of altering the Constitution in order to "limit freedom of expression in this country and to silence the voices of the opposition," he stated that Venezuela is "a Marxist-inspired dictatorial regime.”
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Argentina’s President Néstor Kircher who, along with Cuban President Fidel Castro, was also harshly criticized by the IAPA as a danger to freedom of expression, maintains that the IAPA only looks out for large, corporate interests. "This association, so concerned with seeing how they are going to distribute public funds, says that it is necessary to give them to the largest media," he noted, adding, "we will thus eliminate the thoughts of the smaller media because, according to the IAPA, publicity should be distributed according to the capacity of sales of the media."
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1546