local level journalism and democracy indicators in latin ... · and "otra grieta en la pared....

Number 3 / First Semester 2005

SUMMARY

The worst areas in Latin America to practice journalism in the last semester - BLACK AREA - RED AREAS - BROWN AREA

Improvements in some of the worst areas reported in last semester's report

The owners and the democratic quality of the press

The presidents and journalism

Judges and journalism

Congressmen and journalism

Famous phrases

LOCAL LEVEL JOURNALISM AND DEMOCRACYINDICATORS IN LATIN AMERICA

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Fernando J. Ruiz is a professor of Journalism and Democracy at the School of Communication of the Austral University and Advisor of Journalism and Democracy Area of the Centre for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL). He has a Ph.D. in Public Communication from the University of Navarra where he obtained the extraordinary award for his thesis.

He is the author of the books "Las palabras son acciones: Historia política y profesional del diario La Opinión, 1971-1977" (Perfil Libros) and "Otra grieta en la pared. Informe y testimonios de la nueva prensa cubana (CADAL / Konrad Adenauer Stiftung). He coordinated the publication of the book "Prensa y Congreso: trama de relaciones yrepresentación social" (La Crujía Ediciones).

3June 2005

N u m b e r 3 - F i r s t S e m e s t e r 2 0 0 5

Local Level Journalism and DemocracyIndicators in Latin America

By Fernando J. Ruiz

E x e c u t i v e S u m m a r y

In Cuba there has been no progress but rather a worsening of the independent journalist’s situation. Particularlyworrying is the situation of the twenty two condemned journalists who are suffering persecution in prison.

In Colombia there has been a slight improvement but it continues to be a country where journalists’ lives runenormous risks.

In Mexico, the danger is increasing and the authorities do not punish the murdere’s impunity.

In Haiti the semblance of order that was achieved midway through last year has been broken. The risk ofviolence against the press is increasing.

Following the referendum won by the Venezuelan Government, an institutional and legal structure is being builtthat potentially will place restrictions on press freedom.

In Latin America there exists a group of presidents who are critical of the role of the press and at times theirattitudes are repressive, clientelistic and they withhold information. This is improper behavior in democratic scenarios.

Legislative activity referring to the media is increasing in the entire region with the intention of renewing its legalframework

Whereas the authoritarian structures are being maintained fairly stable, in Latin America journalisticprofessionalism is increasing. These two factors are like two trains traveling in opposite directions. This makes itforeseeable that conflicts with the press will increase. It is possible that in several of the more modern cities thisconflictive situation will be contained or take on less violent forms, but in the outlaying areas where there is lessdemocratic quality, the result will be the opposite.

4 Local Level Journalism and Democracy Indicators in Latin America

Independent journalism in Cubais not going through a good period.When the great repression of March2003 took place, there wereapproximately 100 journalists whowere practicing journalism outside thedictatorship. Probably that numbertoday does not reach 50.

SIP, in its last report, states:“Since 28 journalists were detainedduring the wave of repression twoyears ago, the main news agencies andsites of professional creativity have notbeen rebuilt. Nor have the homemadenewsletters and magazines that usedto be published and distributedthroughout the country”.

Of the one hundred women andmen who sought to inform on theCuban reality, twenty two are in jailserving long sentences. Thosejournalists who were released under aspecial license, though their sentenceswere not condoned, were forced to stoppracticing journalism. Raul Rivera, onbeing released, stated: “The authoritiestold me that I could go on writing butonly as a poet”. For most of them itmeans freedom with exile and withoutjournalism. Those who try to practicejournalism on the island know that theycan be imprisoned in any moment bythe regime, or sent into internal orexternal exile. This situation ensuresthat the possibility of Cuban citizensreceiving alternative information ismaintained at a minimum.

The only media that can reach theisland are international radios. They

provide the only different informationthan that suffocatingly provided by thedifferent dictatorship’s megaphones.

The Cubanet website, which isone of the main distribution channelsfor the island’s independent journalists,did not publish the author’s namesduring 2003 and 2004 in order toprotect them. Now it carries a bannerthat reads: “In spite of continuing towork in an environment of extremetension and personal risk, manyjournalists have asked that their namesbe included. We are complying withtheir request” (www.cubanet.org).

The SIP report continues saying:“Reprisals are extended to theprisoners’ relatives in an effort to stoptheir activism. On January 26, HéctorMaseda (aged 62), serving a 20-yearsentence, was taken to an “increasedsecurity” area in a prison in SantaClara, Villaclara. Maseda’s transferappears to be an attempt to neutralizehis wife, Laura Pollán. Her home inHavana has become a bastion fordefending prisoners of conscience andtheir families. Pollán has beensummoned several times by theNational Housing Institute andthreatened with losing her house. Shehas been warned by the political policeto stop her public activities as leaderof the “Ladies in White movement.”

The Ladies in White also stageda demonstration before the Union ofCuban Journalist’s (UPEC) offices toprotest the news blanket that theofficial media maintains on politicalrepression. Towards the end of May,journalist Omar Ruiz’ wife Barbara,informed that her husband had beenplaced in a punishment cell becausehe had not greeted an officer.

A positive piece of information isthat the European Embassies inHavana are increasing their activity indefending independent journalists. Onthe other hand, the Latin Americandelegations make no effort to provideany kind of protection.

The nature of the Cubandictatorship is clearly shown when areporter, for just carrying out his job,is sentenced to the same number ofyears as journalists’ assassins do inLatin American democracies.

The Cuban photo-journalist OmarRodríguez Saludes was given 27 yearprison sentence for working for amedia not controlled by the state, whilein Brazil a drug trafficker wassentenced to 28 years for havingtortured and killed the journalist TimLopez in Rio de Janeiro.

Twenty eight years sentence hasalso just been given to two murderersin the department of Caldas, Colombiafor killing Orlando Sierra, vice directorof La Patria newspaper, in 2002.

(To access Rodríguez Saludessentence by the Cuban courts, seehttp://www.ruleoflawandcuba.fsu.edu/documents-havana-8s.cfm)

THE WORST AREAS IN LATIN AMERICA TO PRACTICE JOURNALISMIN THE LAST SEMESTER

From left to right: Omar Ruiz,independent journalist sentenced to 18years in prison. Ricardo GonzalezAlfonso is President of the IndependentJournalists Society “Manuel MarquezSterling” and representative forJournalists without Borders in Cuba.Ricardo has been condemned to 20 years.

BLACK AREA: The practice of freedom of press is forbidden by law and the law is enforced.

CUBA

5June 2005

Soon after being named in 2004the “most risky city in Colombia topractice journalism” (FLIP, 2004),during the second week of January,Julio Hernando Palacios was the firstjournalist to be murdered this year inthat country. An attempt on his lifehad been made in 1996, another in 1998and in October 2004 he reportedthreats on his life. At dawn on January11, while walking to Radio Lemaswhere he worked, two hired assassinson a motorbike killed him by firing twoshots.

In February 2005 a missioncomposed of a number of freedom-of-press organizations visited Cucuta toinvestigate the situation. In its report,the mission explained thecharacteristics of the violence in thearea. Cucuta is the capital of NorthSantander Department, borderingVenezuela. It has a long tradition ofcontraband and large cocaineplantations. The three main guerillagroups (FARC, ELN and EPL) had astrong presence there and since 1999,paramilitary groups have enteredviolently into the area. Currently, theELN guerillas are still present but inthe city, the Autodefensa Unidas deColombia (AUC) groups have“strengthened their control of the city”.

In fact, since June 2004 the mayor ofthe city is under arrest accused ofhaving ties with the paramilitary.

In view of the many aggressionsagainst the press in the city, the missionwas very surprised when the actingmayor, Gustavo Villamil, “indicated thathe had never received reports ofattempts against the press”. Accordingto the mission, this statement “indicatesthat there is no awareness on the partof some of the authorities on the stateof generalized risk that journalists runin that city”. Furthermore, “otherofficials state that the attacks areisolated incidents related to eachthreatened journalist’s personalsituation”. The local Head of Policetold the mission that Palacios’ murderwas “a black spot on a whitehandkerchief”. The mission’s reportconcludes that: “The handkerchief isnot so white and that Palacios was notthe only black spot”. It adds: “Nearlyall the journalists who work there havereceived threats”.1

As is always the case, violencegenerates self censure and thisdramatically restricts the agenda on

which journalism works, therebylimiting the quality of information thatthe citizens receive. The mission wastold by the journalists that the subjectsthat are off limits are government

1 http://www.flip.org.co/informes/especiales/Informe%20Misi%F3n%20C%FAcuta.doc2 “Cúcuta: la prensa colombiana al cruce de los peligros”, RSF, April 8th., 2005.

RED AREAS: The practice of freedom of press is protected by law, but the State does not protectit - up to the point that the journalist/media is at immediate physical risk. This category includesevery case in which authorities were involved in a crime against journalists. The red area canbe more dangerous for the journalist’s life than the black area; however, there may be morefreedom of press in the red area. Democracies that have not managed to build effective nationalstates offer the liberties and the risks of an anarchic situation.

CUCUTA CITY(North of Santander, Colombia)

corruption, drug trafficking andgasoline contraband, especially whenthis last one involves local authorities.2There are many areas in Colombiawhere there is high risk of journalistsbeing murdered, such asBarrancabermejo and Arauca. (Seeprevious reports and map on page 15)

Journalist’s workshop inCucuta, Colombia organizedby Media for Peace.

Journalist’s workshop inBarrancabermeja, Colombia organized byMedia for Peace.

As is always the case,violence generates self

censure and thisdramatically restricts the

agenda on whichjournalism works, thereby

limiting the quality ofinformation that thecitizens receive. The

subjects that are off limitsare government corruption,

drug trafficking andgasoline smuggling.


Journaliststransmittingnews at RadioMegastar

HAITI

The press is threatened by theserious tensions among the differentfactions: those who support ex-President Aristide, the remains of thearmy that that the ex-Presidentdissolved, criminal gangs and the newpeople in power. The United Nationspeace keeping force is trying todevelop an electoral process forOctober 2005 but since September2004 there has been a wave ofviolence that has caused more thanseven hundred deaths. This informationwas provided by Reuter ’scorrespondent and director of theHaitian Journalist’s Association, GuylerDelva. On January 14 a journalist waschased and murdered after havingwitnessed homicides and abuse by thepolice as reported to SIP by thedelegation of Haitian editors. OnMarch 20, another journalist diedcaught in a violent cross-fire betweenpeace keeping forces and ex-military.

Radio Megastar was target ofattempts and several of their journalistswere attacked. The radio is accusedof providing air time to supporters ofex-President Aristide. From the radiostation building they witnessed therevolt in the National Penitentiary onDecember 1 2004, when ten prisonersdied and forty were wounded. Theradio accused the police of firingagainst the mutineers. This could beanother reason for having receivedthreats. In short, in Haiti there existvarious armed groups that do not allowthe inhabitants to have a minimum oforder and security. For this reason thejournalists are on the front firing line.

This semester violence againstjournalists along the northern borderwith United States has increased. Mostviolence is concentrated in TamaulipasState. SIP’s report on Mexico states:“In recent months reports have beenreceived that journalists in the northernstate of Tamaulipas have beenkidnapped for short spells by drugdealers who threaten them if theypublish information on their drugactivity or to convey warnings to theeditors. Two of the four journalistsmurdered last year worked inTamaulipas State”.

In response to the deterioratingsituation, the head of Tamaulipas StatePublic Security, Luis Roberto GutiérrezFlores suggested that the “journaliststhat have been threatened could askfor a permit to carry weapons”:According to the Federation ofMexican Journalist’s Associations(Fapermex) “the country’s northernborder is no-man’s land or worse still,Narcoland, where all excesses arepossible and where thugs kill journalistswith complete impunity”. They added:“To this we can add that TamaulipasState occupies a disgraceful first place

Demonstration by newspapereditors in Mexico.

STATE OF TAMAULIPAS(Mexico)

in all Colombia for the amount ofinformers that are murdered”.

SIP’s resolution on Mexico saysthat: “On August 31 2004 in theMatadoras City, Tamaulipas, journalistFrancisco Arratia Saldierna wasmurdered. On September 24 of thatyear, Raúl Castelán Cruz, a memberof the Gulf cartel and henchman of thesuspected killers, was being tried by ajudge for his participation in the crimeand declared that the motive for thekilling was the publication ofnewspaper articles”. SIP adds that theworst places to practice journalism,apart from Tamaulipas, are Sinaloa,Sonora and Baja California.

From left to right:-Raul Gibb Guerrero, murdered inVeracruz, Mexico on April 8 2005

-Dolores Guadalupe Garcia Escamilla,murdered in Tamaulipas, Mexico on April16 2005

-Gregorio Rodríguez Hernandez,murdered in Sinaloa, Mexico onNovember28 2004

Journalists in the northernstate of Tamaulipas havebeen kidnapped for short

spells by drug dealers whothreaten them if they

publish information ontheir drug activity or toconvey warnings to the

editors.

7June 2005

4 http://www.hrw.org/spanish/press/2004/venezuela_ley_de_medios.html

BROWN AREA: The law protects freedom of press but there exists a harassment of the media.Nevertheless, those who practice journalism are not at immediate physical risk.

CARACAS CITY(Venezuela)

The situation for journalists inCaracas has worsened. SincePresident Hugo Chavez obtained amajority vote in the August 15 2004referendum, he has taken advantageof this to increase his judicial controlon the communication media. Thiswas obtained in a few days by threeGovernment promoted initiatives.Between December 2 and 8 2004, atthe same time as the President Chavezincreased his control on the SupremeCourt, the ruling party’s majority inCongress voted the Free ExpressionLaw and a Penal Code reform that

substantially stiffened the punishmentrelated to freedom of speech.

Regarding the new FreeExpression Law, Human Rights Watchreports: “This legislation severelythreatens freedom of expression inVenezuela”, said José Miguel Vivanco,Director for the Americas Division,“The vagueness of its restrictions andsevere penalties that the lawestablishes, constitute a self censuremechanism against the press that canlead to arbitrary actions on the part ofthe governmentauthorities”.(November 24, 2004). Atthe end of July 2004, the SupremeCourt ratified a law regarding theobligation, under penalty of arrest, thatall journalists require a license and haveto be registered with the Journalist’sAssociation. On December 8 a lawwas passed regarding the content ofaudio visual media communicationsthat establishes heavy fines or revokingof license if not adhered to. “Takinginto account the confrontation thatexists between the government and themain private communications media,

Reporters without Borders fears thatthese new laws will be used to silencecriticism”, reported the Frenchorganization.

During a recent visit to Caracas,at a conference at a university,Vivanco said: “Until last year, therewere few evident limitations tofreedom of expression in Venezuelaand printed and audio visual mediaoperated with few restrictions (...).Recently, Venezuela has been buildinga judicial structure to restrict and notto broaden freedom of speech”. AsFidel Castro does in Cuba, PresidentChavez encourages the militarizationof public speeches with the intentionof presenting a scenario that justifiesblocking areas of internal freedom,among them the freedom of the press.In this way, there are governmentofficials who talk about “an asymmetriccommunicational war” and off“communicational battle units”, that areoffshoots of the endogenous, electoralor social battle units already promotedby Chavez’ government.

Lessons on Dictatorships forthe Venezuelan DemocracyExtracts from the interview with AndresIzarra, Minister of Communication andInformation, on April 16 2005.

Journalist (Vanessa Davies): Which arethe points? (of negotiation with privatemedia)Andres Izarra:...For example, theGovernment talked about providing fivepositive subjects that we want to makeknown, that need not necessarily refer topolitical questions, but for example, thesubject of environment and the progresswe have made which is something, thatas a country, we are all interested in andthat we are interested that private andpublic sectors jointly refer to it so as tomake known what has been done inreference to access to water, cleaning-upof rivers and lakes, protection of NationalParks. In other words, I repeat, the

environment is a subject where we canperhaps have less friction and work onthese types of subjects to rebuild lostconfidence. We want to at least attemptto see if this initiative can in some wayconnect us or obtain a linkage that hasbeen lost with all this political diatribe.

P: Does this mean that the governmentwill impose the subjects for the agendaregarding private subjects?AI: No, our government doesn’t imposeanything. We will suggest certain subjectsthat we think, let us say…. this is one ofour ideas, it is not something decided on.It is one of the ideas that arose from theconversations we have had with differenttelevision license holders but also withsome newspapers, as is the case of ElNacional where we have, let us say,broached the subject of the agenda. Thereis a pending top level meeting with them.With Venevision we have also beentalking, they have made a significant

change regarding the coverage ofgovernment matters. El Universal…let mesee, we are considering how we can startconversations.

P: Why do you say it with such hesitation?AI: So far we have not been able toestablish a bridge or link that gives usmutual confidence. We are working on it,we will see, we have sent messages,received messages, we are trying. In anycase, what is important to emphasize isthat on part the of the Executive there isthe will to find a point of understandingor of mutual work with the private media,

Andres Izarra speaking to thepress.


IMPROVEMENTS IN SOME OF THE WORST AREASREPORTED IN LAST SEMESTER’S REPORT

4 Blancornelas, Jesús, “Sicarios colombianos en México”, Semanario Zeta. April 19, 2005.5 Manizales Project is inspired on Arizona Project. It was borned in 1976 with the murder in Arizona of the journalist Don Bolles, who lastyear, together with other collegues from arround the country, had created IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors). After the death ofBolles, IRE decided to carry on a colective research to discover what the murderers had wanted to silence. During five months, voluntaryjournalists from the press and TV investigated and wrote reports that were published by their media. The corruption was revealed and themurderers were sentenced.

especially with the private media, toturn over the page with the privatemedia and try to work with thoseprivate media that have takenantidemocratic attitudes, havesupported coup d’états, sabotagedthe country’s economy and havestrongly encouraged a climate ofinstability in Venezuela.[…]

Up to now we have concentrated allour effort on reformulating thegovernment’s communication system,strengthen it, and obtain the mediatools. Now we have to go to a secondphase which is to study in depth thecontent of what we are going totransmit by this state media, that anew state is being built. In otherwords, which are the messages thatthis new state that is being built wantsto broadcast and how will it bebroadcasted. This ideologicaldiscussion is still pending and I thinkthat this is not a discussion thatshould be carried out by an elite group,that is to say, I as Minister ofCommunications or a CommunicationsCabinet, but a broad discussion thatincludes other sectors. As an example,in Cuba they have framed this entirequestion, these actions of thecommunications media regarding themessages and the ideological battlethat for them comes from an externalthreat, it took them nearly four yearsto carry this forward on a frameworkof a battle of ideas and to identify theprograms that make up this battle ofideas.

P: Would Cuba be the best examplefrom a communicational view point?AI: No, no, I am not saying that wehave to follow the Cuban model. I amjust giving it as an example of a countrythat carried forward a discussionregarding the ideological war or battleand the time it took them to identify it,but in Iran we also had a similarprocess.(Web page of the Ministry ofCommunication and Information http://www.minc i . gov.ve / a r ch ivos /Entrevista%20al%20ministro.doc)

FLIP, the organization in Colombiathat monitors the aggressions to thepress, reports that there has been a“slight improvement” during 2004. SIPagrees with this. FLIP maintains thatin 2004 there were no kidnappings butin January 2005 FARC’s Frente 34kidnapped Hernan Echeverri Arboledafrom Uraba Hoy newspaper and heldhim captive till April 17. According tothe Tiempo’s Editor, Enrique Santos,there is a tendency for the attacks onthe press to come from politicalsectors that take advantage of thegeneralized violent context to punishthose journalists who report andinvestigate them in cases involvingcorruption.

Regardless of this perceivedimprovement, there are areas wherefear is so generalized that there is nomedia of communication at all. Forexample, in the La DoradaMunicipality, in Putamayo in the southof the country, Claudio Gomojoa fromLa Dorada Estereo was threatened bythe paramilitary so he closed the radioand left. What is also increasing isattacks on the audiovisual mediainfrastructure. Since beginning of theyear, there have been four attacks ofthis kind.

According to reliable sources, ifin Colombia violence by criminalgroups against the press is diminishing,in Mexico it is increasing,. The culpritsfor the recent Mexican journalists’Black April when two of them weremurdered, was apparently perpetratedin one case by drug dealers, in the othercase where the journalist waskidnapped and disappeared, it was agang of gasoline traffickers. The Editorof the Tijuana weekly newspaper,Zeta, Jesus Blancormelas, wrote:“This was all we needed: Colombian

thugs in Mexico. I received informationand I checked it. They have come toget rid of Mexican journalists that areharming their business”.

A positive trend is the press’improved ability in most countries toreact. Colombia is giving a lesson thatshould be imitated outside its borders:it is called Manizales Project. In thiscity in the west of the country, inFebruary 2002 a journalist calledOrlando Sierra was murdered. As aresult of this crime, a coalition of localand national media was organized tocontinue with the investigation thatSierra was pursuing. It was a way oftaking away from the murderers theirreason for killing: “it is useless to kill ajournalist if the information cannot bestopped”. Furthermore, this attitudemaintains public pressure on theJudiciary to investigate the crime. Thisresulted in that Sierra’s murder wasone of the few cases that has beensolved in the country’s recent years..5

In Latin America there is not onlylegal impunity but journalistic impunityas well. In most cases, once the pressfreedom has been violated, the victim’scolleagues do not publish a completeaccount of what happened nor of whatwas being covered up. SIP’s ImpunityProgram is also a meaningful supportso that in the courts the assassinationis not forgotten.

Jesus Blancormelas,Director of Tijuana’sweekly Zeta. Twojournalists workingwith him weremurdered. Anattempt was made onhis life in 1997.

9June 2005

In Brazil on February 15, theRede em Defesa da Liberdade deImprensa (Free Press DefenseNetwork) was launched, anassociation between ANJ andUNESCO. In Mexico, in the majority

of states there is an increasedmobilization of journalists. TheProcuradoria General de la Republicainstalled an emergency telephone forall the country’s journalists (01800PERIODISTAS).

In Brazil, the leader of a band ofdrug dealers who assassinated TimLopez , an O Globo journalist, wasconvicted. Nicknamed Elias Maluco,

he was head of the ComandoVermelho in various “favelas”, anorganization that according to Folha deSao Paolo managed about 70% of thedrug business in the city. He wasarrested during an operation that lastedthree days in which nearly onethousand police participated. Malucohad been arrested in 1996 but as hehad no prosecutions or sentences, inyear 2000 he presented a habeascorpus and was released. Accordingto the Rio de Janeiro police, aboutseventy people had been killed in thesame cave where Maluco took hisvictims to be tortured and killed. It wasknown as the “microwave” becausethen their bodies were burnt. When thejournalist was kidnapped andmurdered, he was investigating childprostitution.

In Dominican Republic, acriminal group from the Asua area thathad been seriously harassing journalists

in the previous semester, did notcommit any further aggressions thoughone of the suspects in the journalist’scrime is still to be arrested. There areother cases of impunity followingattempts on journalists that is causingconcern among the Dominican editors.

There is still concern because ofcredible death threats against variouspressmen in Bogota (Colombia), in theNorthern Atlantic Region (Nicaragua),Tegucigalpa (Guatemala) and in theState of Santa Catarina (Brazil). In thiscase, the journalist who had been shotin both legs was still in hiding. InParaguay, the son of a journalist waskidnapped when leaving school andreleased three hours later with thefollowing message: “Tell your fatherto stop publishing articles on drugs andstolen cars because if not somethingfar worse will happen”. (SIP)

THE OWNERS AND THE DEMOCRATIC QUALITYOF THE PRESS

From the beginning of journalism,sweetened mouth gags have beendeveloped for the press. Thediscretionality and opaqueness of therelationship between the State and themedia owners simplifies the weavingof a clientist web that affects thequality of information and therefore,the democratic quality.

The combined misión thattravelled to Cucuta gathered thefollowing generalized confessionregarding clientelism: “The radiojournalists in Cucuta confirmed to themission members that they have to findways of financing their programswhich limits their independence. Butthis limitation starts from the momentthat the advertising is distributedbecause there are no clear rules as tohow the government authorities assignsit”.

In its recommendation, themission requested that “clear andtransparent criteria be established indistributing advertising”. The NationalHuman Development Report indicates

that in all Colombia the mediaclientelism has become the rule in thelast decades: “Much of the mediacame to clientelist arrangements withthe governments regarding thedistribution of television space, theusufruct in perpetuity of radiofrequencies (particularly in theoutlaying regions), low taxes onadvertising, minimum duty on paperimportation for their newspapers orofficial advertising guidelines”. Thereport states that this implies “a weaksense of what is public”. FLIP’s 2004report informed that: “approximately85% of the regional journalists dependon following the guidelines since thisis part of their salary. It was also foundthat some advances had been made.For example, Radio Caracol hasstarted guaranteeing the journalists apermanent salary and prohibiting thatthey obtain the advertising”.(p.27).The National Human DevelopmentReport on Colombia indicates thatsome of the hardly professionalpractices that increases the journalist’s

risk in the conflict are due to “theproletarianization of journalism that hasoccurred in recent years”. (p.438)

In various countries of the regionthere is evidence of corruption in mediacommunication in the interior of thecountries. International Transparency2005 Global Corruption Barometerreported that of the countries theyinvestigated, Peru was the only casewhere the media was among the threeinstitutions that the populationconsidered had the worse reputation.In this report that includes only seventytwo countries in the world, there wereonly two Latin American countries(Ecuador and Bolivia) where themedia received better rating than theworld average. In the remainingcountries: Peru, Venezuela, Uruguay,Guatemala, Argentina, Brazil, CostaRica y Mexico, the media was ratedas having worse perception ofcorruption than the world average.

Orlando Sierra,murdered in Manizales,Colombia, on February1, 2002. His colleaguesresponded starting theManizales Project.


6 See paragraph VI. “Growing conceptual debate on the political role of the media that can influence on freedom of the press”, Local LevelJournalism and Democracy Indicators in Latin America, Number 2, December 2004, pp. 11-13. The issue of March 2005 of the magazineof Latin American communications Chasqui, edited in Ecuador, describes the same tendency in its front page under the title: “¿Retaliaciónpolítica contra los medios?”.

THE PRESIDENTS AND JOURNALISMIn the region there are a group

of presidents who are very critical ofthe press’ role in their country. Thiscriticism may be valid, but in thesecases it coexists with attitudes that arenot always republican. In several ofthese President’s speeches, in varyingdegrees, there is negation ofjournalism’s role in a democracy.Some extend their criticisms to includeinternational press.

This attitude coincides with aregional trend that we pointed out inour last report. The President’s hostilitytowards the press is fostering that hispolitical entourage adopt a much moreaggressive speech than was normalsince the Latin Americandemocratization in the 1980s. It is notnew as it has been evident in othermoments of the region’s history. It isalso part of an attitude that goesbeyond Latin American borders inwhich the politicians are trying torecuperate the initiative in establishingthe rules governing their relationshipwith the media, after a period duringwhich the initiative in this relationshipwas in the hands of the media.

Deciding on a communicationalstrategy is every Presidents’s right andoption. Traditional institutions such asChile’s El Mercurio, Quito’s ELComercio, Caracas’ El Universal orArgentina’s La Nacion must be subjectto criticisms like anyone else. Butwithin the ways that each governmentchooses to relate to the media, thereare some rules that democracy itselfdemands, regardless of the interestsand personal wishes of sits in thepresidential seat. The media is ademocratic institution in the same wayas Congress or the Judiciary and theycannot be ignored beyond criticismsthat may be made of them. In theregion, some Presidents havedeveloped strategies towards themedia that are borderline withaccepted democratic standards. To

question the traditional press is alegitimate option, but to developrepressive and clientelist strategies andavoid contact with the press is notwithin the President’s options in arepublican setting.

Venezuela’s President Chavezand Ecuador’s President Gutierrezwere the ones that during the lastsemester were most criticized by thepress. In this period, Chavezconsolidated his position whileGutierrez was finally forced to resignfollowing a series of publicdemonstrations.

It happens that the previous poorrelationship between the press and thePresident puts a strain on the publicdialogue and when crises break out, itis very difficult that the media thenbecome a forum for dialogue. Whatfollows is a spiraling of collectivetension. Part of the press’ democraticresponsibility is to maintain the qualityof the debate between the socialplayers. In various countries this wasnot achieved and in others, it is beinglost. The relationship between thePresident and the media is crucial sothat collective dialogue may take place.

In Ecuador’s case, since the thenPresident Gutierrez assumed power in2003, there was a tense relationshipwith the press. The fourth PressSecretary that Gutierrez named, IvanOña, in November 2004 declared thatthere was: “…a divorce between thegovernment and the media”.(Hoyonline, February 9 2005). The

Ecuadorian editors had complained toSIP: “The government’s attacks on thepress were each time tougher and

frequent during this period. The mediawas accused of orchestrating andleading the opposition”. By the secondweek in March of this year, the editorshad broken relationships with thegovernment: “Nearly all the mediahave maintained that Ecuador isbeyond constitutional order”. (SIP). Ashappens with other presidents, it isgenerally people surrounding thePresident who unleash the harsherattacks on the press. The Ecuadoreditors in their report to SIP said:“Carlos Arboleda and BolivarGonzalez are the visible bearers of theverbal violence against the press”.Both were close to Gutierrez.

The press, particularly someradios and printed press, played a keyrole in Gutierrez’ downfall on April 21.On the other hand, according to somepress observers in Ecuador, televisiontook an expectant role and only whenthe crisis was at its peak did it provideample coverage of the socialdemonstrations against thegovernment. Mauro Cerbino, Flacso-Ecuador investigator, stated that thetelevision maintained a “conscientiousself censorship by not carrying out fullcoverage of the April events”. Themedia were instrumental in Ecuadorof the recent overthrow of threeelected presidents by massdemonstrations (Bucaram in 1997,Mahuad in 2000 and Gutiérrez in 2005).Particularly influential in the threepresidential removals was Quito’s LaLuna Radio and its director, PacoVelasco(www.radiolaluna.com).Velasco latter stated that: “The radiogave the final push because the mainpart was played by the people, thewomen, the elderly and children”. Thenew government headed by VicePresident Palacio offered to providesecurity to the radio as it had beentarget of various attacks.

In Bolivia, social demonstrationsforced the resignation of President

Lucio Gutierrez,former President ofEcuador.

11June 2005

7 http://www.usergioarboleda.edu.co/congresovictimas/colombia_contra_terrorismo.htm8 http://www.SIPiapa.org/espanol/pulications/uribe2005.cfm

Carlos Mesa. But there were noattempts on freedom of press. InMarch, SIP’s mission in Boliviadeclared: “In spite of the socialconflicts and the power acquired bythose who propose changes in thecountry’s form of administration viaregional autonomies and convening aconstitutional assembly (…) it can beconcluded that press freedom on awhole exists without majorrestrictions”. President Mesa’s

resignation in the first week of Junedid not change this.

Argentina’s President Kirchneralso has a critical attitude towards thepress and his policy towards them oftenhas a strongly clientelist slant. Whenreceiving a SIP delegation in March2005, his attitude was more criticalthan experienced in recent Argentinehistory. He used part of his speech toquestion the delegation of regionaleditors. An association that defendsArgentine journalism, FOPEA (Forode Periodismo Argentino) published adeclaration questioning the governmentfor: “lack of a mature relationship withthe press and not be aware of its roleas evidenced, among other examples,by the presidential decision not to givepress conferences and not to answerjournalist’s questions in 22 months ofgovernment”.

Brazilian President Lula had thesame attitude until last April 29 whenhe gave his first press conferencewhere in an hour and a half he

answered fourteen questions withoutallowing repeat questions

Regarding Colombia, in a visit inApril, the Relator Especial para laLibertad de Expresión de laOrganización de los EstadosAmericanos (OEA), Eduardo Bertoniwrote: “the Government’s indicationthat the press is against securitypolicies could make them subject toattacks”. The former editor ofBogota’s El Tiempo amd now VicePresident of the country, wasquestioned for his following paragraphpublished February 24 last:

“A special part in this isplayed by the media. It is sadto say but in this case, theycreated a sounding board thatis more effective than the useof explosives by illegalgroups. It reached the limit ofquestioning whether if thesecurity policy had failed,wiping out all the evidencethat proves exactly theopposite. They confusedpublic opinion and becauseof the inconsistency of theiranalysis, could have (butfortunately did not) divide asociety that more than evermust be united behind thenational proposal. As victimsof terrorism, you mustrecognize the gravity of this.When I was threatened by theFARC and had to live inSpain, I got to know how thatcountry works. I learnt aboutthe formidable alliance thatexists between the state,society and media to jointlydefend democracy and theinstitutions and having aunanimous response inrejecting terrorism when anattempt is made against thepeople. Here, I am sorry tosay, at times that convergenceand identity is lost. It isunderstood that withoutloosing their autonomy andindependence or their

analysis and criticismcharacteristic of ademocracy, the media cannever loose sight of theirresponsibility towards society,their responsibility towardsthe Colombian’s commondestiny”.7

Faced with the criticism thatthese words provoked, PresidentAlvaro Uribe himself answered themin a speech at the last SIP meeting inPanama: “I called him in Spain twodays ago and said to him: VicePresident, I think we need tounderstand that whether or not wewant to make known terrorist acts,their massacres cannot be hidden andthat pain justifies the news.”8

In Dominican Republic theExecutive also made declarationsquestioning the role of the media. OnNovember 5 the Presidentialspokesman informed that governmentinformation would be “administered”so as not to concern the populationwith “inopportune news”. Thismeasure was based on a study thatconcluded that “impertinence andscandal” caused unrest among theDominicans. “We are providing detailson certain matters but we are tryingto administer the information becausewe want to provide those that areopportune. We do not want to appearas idiots bothering the Dominicanfamilies”. (SIP report). On May 7 2005the Dominican president approved adecree, considered “ridiculous andfreedom-curtailing” by RSF, thatprohibited informing catastropheswithout government agreement. A fewdays later the president decided toabolish this decree in view of thecriticisms.

An example of criticism towardsthe press but with a republican attitudetowards it was made by ChileanPresident Ricardo Lagos. In Madrid’sEl Pais newspaper, he said that amongChile’s pending matters, there is one

Carlos Mesa, former Presidentof Bolivia.


JUDGES AND JOURNALISM

9 “We have dared to look at the truthwithout hiding it under a carpet”. Interviewto Ricardo Lagos. El País, Madrid,December 5, 2004, pp. 4-5. This expressionof President Lagos represents the exigencythat most of the world politicians havetowards the press, trying to restrict it to apurely technically function of transmissionof information. Moreover the examples ofthe mentioned newspapers are not verygood ones, since they are profesionalreferences of interpretative journalism,precisely consisting in the explicitcombination of ‘facts’ and ‘analysis’,specially in the European newspapers. It isnecessary to make clear that, alike othercases, President Lagos has had anoutstanding republican relationship withjournalism.

In Latin America, the Judiciaryis in many ways responsible for thelack of protection of press freedomin the region. On one hand, impunityis practically the rule for those whoattack journalists and on the other,judges’ rulings also place seriousrestrictions on journalism

.At the last SIP meeting, the

Mexican editors again insisted onfederalizing crimes against the press:“Insist with the Federal Governmentthat it stimulate the requiredconsensus to reform the FederalPenal Code and the Federal PenalProcedures and other laws so thatcrimes committed against journalistswhile carrying out their assignment,should be investigated by theGovernment’s General Procurator”.Nevertheless, SIP’s ImpunityProgram questions delays and errorsin the federal justice as in theProcurator’s offices in the statessuch as Chihuahua, Guerrero andTamaulipas. The fact that in afourteen day period in April twojournalists were murdered andanother kidnapped and disappearedcaused a widespread outcry thatresulted in the hearings for thesecases being conducted at a federallevel.

As happened in Mexico, inBrazil the federal justice has becomethe mechanism to combat violenceagainst journalists in the states. Inan amendment to the BrazilianConstitution carried out at the endof 2004, human right crimes becamefederal offenses “especially in thecase of reporters and radiojournalists that are murdered and thesuspects are people with influence

who can interfere in investigationsat a local level”.(SIP)

In Brazil, the first journalistsince the last dictatorship wassentenced to prison in a caseinitiated by the owner of a media.The journalist, Jorge Kajurn termedas “opportunistic” the media ownerand a judge in Goiana State forcondemning him to eighteen monthsof house arrest.Alberto Dines in the Observatorio daImpresa newspaper, declared: “It isthe first imprisonment of a journalistsince the end of the dictatorship”.(3/5/2005).

At the same time, judges havelittle or no efficiency in reducing theimpunity of those who attack ormurder journalists. In Colombia aninvestigation carried out in 2004 byFLIP revealed that of nearly 200cases reviewed since 2002, only twocame to trial and in neither case wasthe intellectual author of the crimearrested. The sub-director of ElTiempo of Bogota, Enrique Santos,in the prologue of a recentlypublished book draws attention to“the profound flaws in a judicialsystem that has been unable toconvict a single intellectual author inthe deaths of more than thirtyjournalists in the last five years”.According to FLIP, a new penalprocedure introduced in some areasof the country in January 2005 thatspeeds up the time required for theinvestigations “could help so thatcrimes against journalists do not gounpunished”. FLIP continues.“Nevertheless, that same speedcould cause that cases in which noarrests have been made be closedand thereby forgotten”. (page 29)

that has to do with “a media system”that is “too slanted and causes harmto Chile”. “Here there is no newspaperlike El Pais or Le Monde or New YorkTimes that do something so elementalas to differentiate facts fromanalysis”.9

Finally, in Haiti the PrimeMinister’s press office criticized(“lamentable scheming”) Reuter’spermanent correspondent. This couldhave serious consequences given thelatent climate of violence wheredifferent armed groups operate withimpunity.

13June 2005

The region’s Congresses’ agendaregarding the media have many pointsin common. As was informed in lastsemester’s report, “desacato” orContempt Law, regulating of audiovisual media, access to publicinformation and some form ofregulating the journalistic professionare being discussed in many LatinAmerican parliaments

The good news is that Hondurashas abolished the “desacato” law. Thebad news is that despite the OAS’srecommendation, only five countrieshave done it (Argentina, 1993;Paraguay, 1998; Costa Rica, 2002;Peru, 2003). Even worse news is thatVenezuela has taken the opposite routeand has just increased the penalty forthis crime. The final wording of thelaw reads: “The individual who givesfalse information through any media:printed, radio, television, telephone,electronic mail or pamphlets trying tocause or actually cause panic oranguish in the population, will bepunished with two to five years in

CONGRESSMEN AND JOURNALISM

prison”.(Art.297 of the VenezuelanPenal Code)

Congress’ activity regardingmedia is increasing. After many yearsof congressional paralysis, politiciansare daring to regulate the media thoughthere exists the strong inclination tolegislate legal frameworks that willrestrict press freedom.

In Brazil, the national journalistunion’s project to create the Federal

Journalists Council was filed by theChamber of Deputies last December15 after one voting. The bill regardingaccess to information is ready to bevoted by the Chamber of Deputies andmust then go before the Senate. TheMexican Senate is discussing a newRadio and Television Federal Law. InEcuador and Argentina the legislativeprocess for the Access of InformationLaw became difficult when thegovernment majorities tried to changeits original meaning.

In Guantánamo there are two jails. One at United States’ military base

and the other, the Cuban government’s one. At this one is held journalist

Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona condemned to 26 years in prison.

See his sentence at:

http://www.ruleoflawandcuba.fsu.edu/documents-pinar-del-rio-1s.cfm

Palacio Legislativo San Lázaro. Cámara de Diputados de México.


FAMOUS PHRASES

“My companion in case No. 348”La Habana: Yes, Ricardo González Alfonso never tires, with his recondite drawers filled withlove poems and with humorous texts that he is always slightly embarrassed to read, full ofpassion for his children, grazing for Alida’s love, a difficult man because he is alive and becausehe goes head on into all matters in a world where the word is used as a pillow. A talentedjournalist with courage to use it, but also with a wide scope to reason, understand and conversewith flexibility and without concessions. Fanatic of the Spanish language, in love with Lorca andRimbaud’s poetry. Yes. Ricardo González Alfonso, my companion in cause 348 of 2003. The manwho during the trial, when the prosecutor was requesting life imprisonment, stood up serenelyand precisely, with no arrogance and cleanly, defended his right to write and give opinions in thecountry where he has lived for half a century. Ricardo, the recluse from the Aguica prison in

Matanzas, who is now undergoing medical treatment in the Combinado del Este Hospital of Havana, a trueprofessional as can be found, a Cuban who we want back in his home in Playa so that he can finally remove theghost that lives there and its only a trick of the memory. (Raul Rivero, “Aquella Libertad”, El Nuevo Herald,January 2 2005)

SolidarityLa Habana. You do not know howimportant it is for a political prisoner,for a prisoner of conscience, to feeland see through my family and bytelephone calls, what the people aredoing. We were desperate. I asked myrelatives what CPJ was doing, whatRSF was doing, what SIP was doing,and what about Amnesty International,what were so many other peopledoing, including politicians and wellintentioned people. This is veryimportant from a spiritual viewpoint,to give us strength under theseconditions. And this cannot end. It’scrucial for those journalists who arestill in prison under similar conditionsto the ones I described. [Jorge OliveraCastillo, interviewing Sauro GonzálezRodríguez, CPJ, April 26 2005].

FearValledupar. With a heavy heart Irefuse to write editorials because I amscared of the murderer’s patiencerunning out. [Enrique Herrera Araujo,columnist and editor of the VanguardiaLiberal newspaper, Cesar Department(Colombia), January 26 2005]

Raúl Rivero

15June 2005

The last kissManizales. The assassin fired the firsttime when my father and I were kissinggoodbye after having lunched together.The bullet passed between us and aspetrified as I was, I lived the mostpainful moment of my existence: theman attacked my father, grabbed hisshirt collar, threw him to the floor andput his revolver against his temple. Myfather adopted a fetal position andlooked into the man’s face as if saying:“What’s happening? Do what youhave to do!” I do not know if he wasresigned but what I do now is that hiscalm attitude at that tragic moment wasin line with his character. He wasaggressive with the pen and with ideas,but he had always said that he wouldnever change a discussion for a blow.He never communed with violence.Maybe that was why he did not defendhimself from the aggression. [BeatrizEugenia Sierra Agudelo, daughter ofthe journalist murdered in CaldasDepartment (Colombia), mentioned inLa Censura del Fuego, by thejournalists Jorge González and JairoLozano. Intermedio Editores, Bogota,2005.]

EuropeParis: Mr. Police Commissioner, press freedom is an integral part of those public liberties that the European Union isproud to embody, protect and defend. Cuba cannot demand anything from the European Union without a fundamentalprior condition: that they stop being the second largest prison for journalists in the world [Robert Menard, Reporterswithout Boundaries’ Secretary General in a letter to the European Development Commissioner, Louis Michel, beforehis visit to Cuba, March 22 2005]

French talentParis. You carried on explaining your account of the current tourist demand,saying that: “The client now demands other things: in first place, qualityand also authenticity”. That is it. And because of that, you concluded:“France, who are experts in the matter, are the defenders of quality tourism,based on their heritage, culture, service and efficiency”. Reporters withoutBoundaries would have wanted that, through you, France would have alsobecome the human rights defender. Our country has also some “expertisein the matter”, having been a pioneer. [Open letter from Robert Menard,Reporters without Boundaries’ Secretary General, to the French TouristMinister, Leon Bertrand, May 11 2005].

Big Stick LawCaracas. The situation of handicappedcommunications continues three yearsafter the coupe. I believe we have notyet had the capability of standing up tothe mediatic force that the private mediahas in Venezuela, now silenced after somany defeats (…) Furthermore, wehave the Social Responsibility in Radioand Television Law that provides us withmany tools to take over the licensees thatat some moment may embark ondestabilizing actions. . [Interview withAndrés Izarra. Venezuelan Minister ofCommunications and Information, April16 2005]


AssistanceNuevo Laredo. Threatened journalists could ask for permission to carryfirearms [Luis Roberto Gutiérrez Flores, Tamaulipas State Public SecuritySecretary].

AgendaMexico City.How many more journalists need to be killed for us to bereceived by the President? [Benjamín Fernández Pichardo, AMEPresident (Asociación Mexicana de Editores de Periódicos)]

ServiceSanto Domingo. We are providing details on certain matters but we are tryingto administer the information because we want to provide those that areopportune. We do not want to appear as idiots bothering the Dominican families.[Presidential spokesman, November 5, 2004].

OrderSan Salvador (Following an attackon a photojournalist and acameraman): The people wereinvolved in an activity and thejournalist objected, they asked if hewould please move but he would notlisten. What they did was take himout of the way, not attack him,because if a journalist oversteps hisrole, we have orders to put him inhis place. [Efrén Mejía, PopularYouth Block Coordinator (BPJ),Prensa Gráfica, May 1 2005].

TheftSan Salvador. The lack of government transparency in recent years regarding the state of public finances, specificallythe fiscal deficit, is now seen to have been greater than officially announced. Following journalists’ investigations, thepresent government finally admitted that the Treasury Minister concealed more than $200 millions in deficit in theyears 2002, 2003 y 2004 [SIP report, March 2005].

ParamoralBarrancabermeja. Their are important questions such as social control (howwomen dress, the type of haircut men must use, among others) thatparamilitaries impose in city neighborhoods or the massive stealing of gasolineby the paramilitary from the Ecopetrol pipeline that no one investigates orinforms on because of fear.(FLIP report, April 2004)

Police sense of smellArauca. We know who the good ones are and who the bad ones are andwe act accordingly. That the judicial system sometimes does not manageto judge the terrorists does not change our job. [High police oficial fromArauca, talking to the Swedish Mission].

The signalMexico City: When things gowrong for journalists, they gowrong for the country. Theexercise of democratic libertiesregarding expression is a verysensible indicator of the system’shealth: this is established byinternational narrators, byinternational standards. We need tosound the alarm regarding what ishappening to the communicators inthis country. [President of theFederal District’s Human RightsComission, Emilio Alvarez deIcaza, La Jornada, April 5 2005.]

a m e

To see previous reports:MAY 2004http://www.cadal.org/english/pdf/20050104_indicadores_ruiz.pdf

DECEMBER 2004http://www.cadal.org/informes/pdf/20041220_indicadores_ruiz.pdf(only in Spanish)

17June 2005

S O U R C E S

Freedom House (FH)Reporters Without Borders (RSF)Committee to Proctect Journalists (CPJ)Inter-American Press Association (SIP)Institute of Press and Society - Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS)Amesty International (AI)Human Rights Watch (HRW)Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Organization of American States (OAS)Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expressionof United Nations (UN)International Press Institute - Instituto de Prensa Internacional (IPI)Latin American Federation of Journalists - Federación Latinoamericana de Periodistas (FELAP)Association of Journalists of Barrancabermeja - Asociación de Periodistas de Barrancabermeja (Colombia)Antonio Mariño Project - Proyecto Antonio Nariño (Colombia)Foundation for the Freedom of Press - Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (Colombia)Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Colombia - Asociación para la Defensa de los DerechosHumanos de Colombia (ASDEH)University of La Sabana (Colombia)National Association of Journalists - Asociacao Nacional dos Jornais (ANJ)National Federation of Journalists - Federacao Nacional dos Jornalistas (Fenaj)Probidad (El Salvador)Association of Journalists - Asociación Periodistas (Argentina)House Commission of Freedom of Expression - Comisión de Libertad de Expresión de la Cámara deDiputados de la Nación (Argentina)Argentine Journalism Forum - Foro de Periodismo Argentino (FOPEA)Association of Argentine Entities of Journalism - Asociación de Entidades Periodísticas Argentinas (ADEPA)National Association of Journalists of Peru - Asociación Nacional de Periodistas del PerúCommite pro-Citizen Defence - Comité Pro Defensa Ciudadana (Chile)Association of Uruguayan Press - Asociación de Prensa Uruguaya (APU)Association of Journalists of El Salvador - Asociación de Periodistas de El Salvador (APES)Centre of Informative Reports of Guatemala Agency - Agencia Centro de Reportes Informativos deGuatemala(Cerigua)Reporters of Mexico Fraternity - Fraternidad de Reporteros de MéxicoFreedom of Information Mexico - Libertad de Información MéxicoJournalists Union of Paraguay - Sindicato de Periodistas del ParaguayNational Union of Press Workers - Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Prensa (Venezuela)www.cubanet.orgwww.nuevaprensa.org (Sobre Cuba)www.encuentroenlared.org (Sobre Cuba)www.upec.cu (Sobre Cuba)


The Konrad Adenauer Foundation is a German political foundationfounded in 1964, related to the Christian Democrat movement and ishonored with the name of the first Federal Chancellor. The Foundation’sactivities both in Germany as in the rest of the world are guided by thesame principles that inspired Konrad Adenauer’s work.The Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s objectives in internationalcooperation are centered on maintaining peace and freedom in the entireworld, strengthen democracy, fight against poverty and conserve thenatural life environment for future generations.

The Centre for the Opening and Development of Latin America(CADAL), based in Buenos Aires, was incorporated as a Foundationon February 26 2003 with the object of strengthening democracies, ruleof law and the economic freedom in the countries of the region. To thatend, CADAL carries out activities analyzing, investigating, promotingand training in the following areas: Latin American Politics, Human Rights,Journalism and Democracy, Economy and Rule of Law, Modernizingthe Political Parties, and Development and Institutional Communications.CADAL has received two international awards for its work: “2005Templeton Freedom Award Grant for Institute Excellence” y “2005Francisco De Vitoria Prize for Ethics and Values”.

Cuban provinces

State of Chiapas

Barrancabermeja City

Cucuta CityCaracas

City

THE WORST AREAS IN LATIN AMERICA TO PRACTICE JOURNALISM

JUNE 2005

REFERENCES:

(A) BLACK AREAThe practice of freedom of press is forbidden by law and the law is enforced.

(B) RED AREASThe practice of freedom of press is protected by law, but the State does not protect it - up to the point that the journalist/media is at immediate physical risk. This category includesevery case in which authorities were involved in a crime against journalists. The red area canbe more dangerous for the journalist’s life than the black area; however, there may be morefreedom of press in the red area. Democracies that have not managed to build effective national states offer the liberties and the risks of an anarchic situation.

(C) BROWN AREASThe law protects freedom of press but there exists a harassment of the media. Nevertheless, those who practice journalism are not at immediate physical risk.

North border

Baja California

Haiti

Department of Arauca

Sonora

Sinaloa Tamaulipas

local level journalism and democracy indicators in latin ... · and "otra grieta en la pared....

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