03/31/08

Media group warns against deteriorating of press freedoms in Americas

By FABIOLA SANCHEZ
Associated Press Writer

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Newspaper executives from across the Americas warned against deteriorating of press freedoms throughout the region as they wrapped up a three-day meeting in Venezuela Sunday amid tensions with President Hugo Chavez.

The Inter American Press Association closed its midyear meeting in Caracas raising concerns over hostility toward the news media by both leftist and conservative governments, including those in Venezuela and United States, and raised concerns over the killing of journalists in Mexico.

"The last six months have been marked by a deterioration of press freedom and an increase in violence against journalists in the Americas," the IAPA said in its final report.

Gonzalo Marroquin, president of the IAPA's press freedom commission, said the association was particularly concerned by cases in the U.S. where journalists have been jailed for refusing to reveal their sources or where the government withholds certain information.

"This is a restriction on the free exercise of journalism," said Marroquin, editor of the newspaper Prensa Libre of Guatemala. Elsewhere in the Americas, about 32 journalists have recently been threatened in Colombia, three were killed in Mexico and 25 others are jailed in Cuba.

Marroquin called the slaying of journalists in Mexico "alarming" and condemned the detentions in communist-led Cuba as "a demonstration of total intolerance."

The IAPA strongly criticized Venezuela's Chavez for using "attacks and intimidation" to curb criticism of his socialist government, citing his repeated threats to close down Globovision -- one of two Venezuelan TV channels that remain critical of his government.

The association also strongly condemned the socialist leader's decision last year not to renew the broadcast license of Radio Caracas Television, or RCTV, and replace it with a state-run channel that regularly broadcasts pro-government propaganda. RCTV now airs only on cable.

Chavez "punished RCTV for its editorial line" and replaced it with "a pro-government channel," Marroquin said.

A few blocks away from the hotel that hosted the IAPA meeting, Chavez supporters attending a parallel, government-sponsored "Latin American Meeting on Media Terrorism" accused the Miami-based IAPA of waging a smear campaign against Chavez and other leftist movements in Latin America.

"The media war isn't just against Chavez ... it's against all the peoples of America," said Nelson de Castillo, a journalist from Puerto Rico who attended the anti-IAPA forum.

Hundreds of Chavez supporters protested the IAPA's presence in Venezuela on Saturday during a street demonstration. Accusing media executives of "brainwashing" the public, several protesters dumped a pile of cow brains outside the hotel where IAPA delegates were gathered.

Chavez praised the anti-forum on Sunday for standing up to media executives and denied that his government has restricted press freedoms, saying "total freedom of expression exists" in Venezuela.

"It appears to be an extraordinary event, I watched some of the presentations. I was attentive despite the limited time I have," said Chavez, speaking during his weekly radio and television program. "I believe that one of today's biggest battles is precisely the media battle."

IAPA president Earl Maucker, who is editor of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, welcomed the criticism from Chavez backers. "We absolutely endorse and protect the right to speak against us," Maucker said.
___
Associated Press writer Luis Alonso Lugo in Caracas contributed to this report.