IAPA condemns attacks on freedom of the press in Venezuela and Nicaragua

The Inter-American Press Association (SIP) has claimed that news organizations in the region they are going through one of their worst moments and condemned the persecution of the state Venezuela and Nicaragua. Between Friday and Sunday, it takes place in Cartagena, Colombia, half-yearly meeting of the body.

"There is a war against freedom of expression that the (Maduro) government delivers 24 hours a day with its huge police, military, judicial and communication apparatus. Despite this, there are communication professionals and citizens who they badume the risks of informing, they maintain the activity, they fight to avoid the blackout of the information and they do not stop fighting to restore democracy, "said the SIP report on the situation in Venezuela.

"The violence against journalists and the media has worsened, having quadrupled quantitatively and intensified in all its variants"He continued.

Then he listed four phenomena: the first is the systematization of attacks journalists in the streets, open spaces or in the spaces of public institutions; the second is made up of one mbadive and structured program of theft and destruction of equipment with which journalists, publishers and managers of web pages work; the third is the one of the attacks on the foreign press; and the last the elimination selectively radio and television programs, especially information and opinions.

"The political, social and economic situation he has deteriorated and the freedom of the press and the situation of many journalists it's critical"So begins the SIP report on prospects in Nicaragua.

"Journalists remain in deplorable conditions Miguel Mora, director of the television channel 100% News, the same as your press officer, Lucía Pineda. The chain was and continues to be closed and guarded by the police. The two journalists were accused of & # 39;provocation and conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism"Mora is the representative of independent journalism in Nicaragua for the SIP Prize for Press Freedom," continued IAPA.

He added: "The arrests took place after several weeks when police patrolled the cbad facilities and arrested and interrogated anyone who visited him.. The trial for Mora and Pineda is scheduled for April 18. Mandates were also issued against journalists Luis Galeano and political commentator Jaime Arellano, director of the morning program. Jaime Arellano in the nation. Both had programs on the channel 100% News and both have been isolated in Costa Rica. "

IAPA also cited the case of the press Confidential, this week and tonightdirected by Carlos Fernando Chamorro, son of Pedro Joaquín Chamorro murdered in 1978. "The offices of Chamorro Barrios were occupied, all their equipment confiscated and their programs banned on channel 12, the only one uncontrolled or neutralized by the government."