NGO denounces escalation of violence against journalists and media in Venezuela

La ONG de Venezuela Espacio Público denounced an “escalation of violence” by the State security forces against journalists and the media during the month of November, when 103 violations of freedom of expression were reported.

According to the organization, the most frequent were intimidation, censorship and administrative restrictions, “actions that seek to reduce the citizen’s ability to seek, receive and impart information.”

With the data for the month just ended, Espacio Público computed 453 violations of freedom of expression from the beginning of 2021 until November 30.

With these figures, in 2021 accumulates 453 violations until November 30, corresponding to 236 cases, of which 44.44% had journalists as victims, 20.83% to the media and 10% to citizens, the NGO detailed. It did not specify which areas the remaining 24.73% corresponds to.

He highlighted that during the local and regional elections on November 21, 54 violations of freedom of expression were registered in the states of Aragua, Lara, Táchira, Mérida, Nueva Esparta, Sucre, Guárico, Portuguesa, Carabobo, Falcón, Bolívar, Caracas , Trujillo, Monagas and Cojedes.

The correspondent for Venezolanos por la Información (VPITV) in Lara state, Andreína Ramos, denounced that a member of the state security forces “threatened to take away her work equipment while she was covering at a voting center.”

In addition, in Mérida, “four journalists accredited by the National Electoral Council (CNE) were denied access to the voting centers.”

“One of the most repeated cases in this voting process was the impediment of journalists from covering the exercise of the candidates’ suffrage,” explained the NGO.

On the other hand, the group assured that on November 25 in the town of Sabaneta, Barinas state, the Mayor’s Office ordered the elimination of two programs from the radio program of the station Play 101.1 FM.

Two days later, the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) ordered the closure of the Monumental 94.1 FM station in Santa Bárbara, in the same state, the birthplace of the late President Hugo Chávez, where the regional elections will be repeated on January 9 by order of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ).

The Supreme Court’s order was based on a constitutional protection action filed by Adolfo Superlano, an opposition dissident, who alleged a violation of constitutional rights, among other things, because the opposition candidate Freddy Superlano, who won the ruling party by a narrow margin, showed up despite being disabled.