The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2010

T his year several Latin American countries are celebrating the bicentennial anniversary of their independence from Spain. But the region as a whole is experiencing growing signs of social strain, fueling restrictions on freedom of expression. Pressure from government officials, di- rect censorship and even threats by criminal organizations all pose a severe menace to citizens’ right to know — a threat not obviated by the rise of Inter- net-based outlets. This attack on a fundamental right across the hemisphere poses a host of public diplomacy challenges for the United States. In particular, a lack of public knowledge about what is hap- pening in their local communities, let alone anywhere else, has left the region less secure, with direct spillover across our border. This trend should be of as much concern to the United States as to Latin America — not simply from a human rights perspective, vital as that is, but because an informed populace makes for a stronger democracy and stronger partners in the region. “Justice Has Been Kidnapped in Venezuela” Perhaps the best known of these at- tacks are the efforts by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s administra- tion to suppress views contrary to those he claims represent the “Bolivarian Revolution.” In 2007, for instance, the government refused to renew the broadcasting license of Radio Caracas Television, a cable network headquar- tered in the capital, claiming RCTV had promoted the 2002 coup attempt that briefly overthrew Chavez. After the Venezuelan Supreme Court upheld that decision, the station continued to broadcast via satellite and cable as RCTV International. It re- jected the Venezuelan media regula- tor’s finding that it was a domestic media provider, and refused to broad- cast speeches by Chavez. This January, RCTV was “temporarily” closed for al- legedly failing to respect Venezuelan media law. Many smaller media outlets in Venezuela have faced similar harass- ment and outright closure for not hew- ing to a more “positive” editorial line. This crackdown has not completely squelched dissent, but it has led some journalists to leave the country in order to report what is occurring in their own communities. A February report by the Organiza- tion of American States’ Inter-Ameri- can Commission on Human Rights states: “The commission believes that conditions do not exist for human rights defenders and journalists to be able to freely carry out their work. [It] also de- tects the existence of a pattern of im- punity in cases of violence, which par- ticularly affects media workers, human rights defenders, trade unionists, par- ticipants in public demonstrations, peo- ple held in custody, campesinos (small- scale and subsistence farmers), indige- nous people and women.” This scathing report, which Caracas attempted to head off by withholding access to official sources, also makes eight recommendations ranging from depoliticizing broadcasting laws to hav- ing government officials publicly con- demn acts of violence against journal- ists. To date, there has been no posi- tive action on any of these issues. As one Venezuelan journalist re- cently put it when referring to freedom of expression: “The exercise of a right cannot be subject to any previous cen- sorship. I believe that is the sensitive issue in Venezuela. The rules are not clear.” This exiled reporter, who has unfortunately been hampered in prac- ticing his profession, has not given up hope. But he does not see change Efforts to weaken media freedom across the hemisphere pose a host of public diplomacy challenges for the United States. J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 13 Latin America’s Latest Victim: The Free Press B Y C HRISTOPHER T EAL AND S ILVIO G ONZALEZ S PEAKING O UT