- Acts of harassment include censorship, administrative restrictions, intimidation and threats | Photo: Courtesy / Reference
In Venezuela, 26 “violations of freedom of expression” were recorded in September, 75 less than in August, when 101 were documented, according to data released by the NGO Espacio Público.
Through a press release, the NGO indicated that they recorded seven acts of censorship, six of verbal harassment, six administrative restrictions, four of intimidation, two judicial harassment and one threat.
“Among the 17 victims, we count six journalists or reporters, four media outlets and four web pages or platforms,” Espacio Público added on September 4.
Likewise, he said that they documented 16 perpetrators, half of them were, he maintained, state institutions, as well as two officials, two private operators, a security body and a member of the Executive Branch, which he did not specify.
This pattern confirms that the official policy of attacks on free expression and inaction by other state agencies to prevent this and other violations of human rights is maintained,” Espacio Público indicated.
Accusations to the media
The NGO recalled that at the beginning of September, the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, “harassed” the national digital media Estudio Cocuyo, TalCual and El Pitazo, during an address on his weekly television program.
“Maduro accused the three media of being ‘founded, financed and maintained by USAID (United States Agency for International Development)’ and of imposing ‘manipulation on the network at the right moment,’ mentioning their coverage of the post-election protests and the national blackout on August 30,” the NGO said.
Likewise, the organization documented the announcement of the closure of a radio station in the state of Falcón by “orders of the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel)”, after 25 years of broadcasting.
On June 26, the National College of Journalists (CNP) denounced that a total of 405 media outlets have closed in Venezuela in the last two decades, as part – it maintained – of a “State policy” against “the freedom of expression and exercise of journalism.”
Censorship continues
The siege on the media continues. On Thursday, October 3, the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) denounced the closing of the The Voice Newspaper by the National Integrated Customs and Tax Administration Service (Seniat).
A commission appeared at the warehouses where the newspaper is printed and closed the facilities. It is one of the few prints left in Venezuela,” he wrote on his X account (formerly Twitter).
According to the SNTP, the closure was ordered until May 2025 and the Seniat assured that the media outlet did not have the fiscal billboard updated.
“With the closing of the The Voice NewspaperIn addition to violating the rights to freedom of expression and access to information, 50 direct workers are left without employment. We reject indirect censorship against media and journalists,” said the SNTP.
With information from EFE
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2024-10-05 21:06:33
