Venezuela: Refusing Censorship
UncategorizedIn recent years, the Venezuelan government has implemented actions against the media and non-governmental organizations that translate into censorship measures and limitations on access to public information.
The powers, especially the judiciary, are used as a barrier that prevents citizens from having access to data related to the management of State resources and other issues related to management, which are of collective interest.
La Ley del Odio (The Law of Hate)
The Law of Hate punishes any demonstration that the Government considers to be “fascist” with its own criteria. Hatred and hate crimes should always be condemned , but the issue comes with who sets the bar: Maduro, the Venezuelan Government and the National Constitunal Assembly.
This is an initiative that arrived in the month of August, brought before the National Constituent Assembly by Maduro himself, and that was passed directly. From then on, all opinions or gestures that is not “liked” can be sanctioned directly. As a consequence, Venezuelans can face up to 20 years in prison.
This also involves, of course, the media. Any opinion that is not to the Government’s liking can be considered a hate crime by a journalist.
A case worth highlighting is Freddy Guevara’s, who was arrested with the charges of “terrorism, attacks against the constitutional order, [and] conspiracy to commit a crime and treason” He is one of the youngest and most active people in politics in Venezuela. He was freed a month later and the United Stated stated that the arrest was “Politically motivated”
The Desire to Inform
Roximar Tovar -a journalist in Venezuela- takes time out of her daily routine to get on buses all over Caracas city to read national daily news behind a cardboard TV. This is one of the offline methods that have emerged in the country to circumvent censorship and keep the population informed.
Currently there is an issue of censorship, also by the journalists themselves, and that limits the media when it comes to being able to provide truthful information of what is currently happening and there have been hundreds of cases of certain journalists who have been detained or who have been attacked by the the Government.
In addition to a polarized media market, there is decrease in channels for Venezuelans to stay informed. Citizens appreciate the efforts.
According to a report by LOEP (La Organizacion de Espacio Publico), the work of informing is increasingly limited, at least 40 print media have gone out of circulation due to the scarcity of paper. The dozen information portals that have emerged in the digital age, such as the case of “El Pitazo” (The Whistle), suffer constant cybernetic blockages.
“All this leads us to have rapid innovation and creativity, to seek to win online and offline. This allows us to communicate with the audiences, and we know that it is a very difficult job. It is a very complicated job. We are leaving a grain of sand for people to be informed. To defend freedom of expression, to defend human rights and not to give up space”
Cesar Batiz, director of El Pitazo
“not to give up space”: with this objective, the commitment of journalists who have not chosen exile continues to defend press freedom with innovative ideas.