Politics

After ensuring that "the role of the independent media and journalists in Venezuela is increasingly difficult and dangerous," David Natera, the president of the Venezuelan Press Bloc (BPV), asked the Human Rights Council of the United Nations to delve into the situation facing both the news outlets and journalists in Venezuela.

Natera, who is the editor and owner of Venezuelan newspaper El Correo del Caroní, made the request last Sunday, when he filed a report on the situation of the freedom of expression in Venezuela, during the 64th Assembly of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), the organization that comprises the owners and editors of newspapers in the hemisphere.  

At the summit held in the Spanish capital city of Madrid, Natera claimed that a series of attacks, assaults and threatens against news outlets and journalists have continued hitting the sector. He also reported to those attending the meeting that obstacles to obtain information from government sources not only persist but have worsened.

Despite this discouraging scenario, Natera said that "the press, the independent media are not going to remain silent." 

"In order to meet our responsibility to keep people informed, we must disclose the facts and complaints related to unprecedented corruption in the management of public funds." "In fact, Venezuela has been declared the second most corrupt country in Latin America," said the president of the BPV, while he rebutted "the reemergence of diseases that had long been uprooted."

Natera also referred to serious crime rates and impunity in Caracas, which he described as "unprecedented." 

In his report, Natera accused Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez of violating the will of people, by adopting a package of laws which contain several provisions that were part of Chávez's proposed changes to the Constitution that were rejected in a referendum held on December 2, 2007.  

"The president has the power to expropriate any business, including private media, but he will not be able to put us on our knees," Natera warned.

Reply to Venezuela's ambassador to OAS

The president of the BPV seized the opportunity to reply to the Venezuelan Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Roy Chaderton, who during his participation in the 63rd General Assembly of the United Nations Organization, accused the private media of plotting against the Venezuelan government.

"The errand boy repeated the Venezuelan government's claims against the independent media, describing them as coup plotters," Natera said.  

The Venezuelan editor not only rejected claims that the media are trying to overthrow President Chávez or any other government in the region, but also recalled that "Chávez has already 10 years in office and he has repeatedly been accused of meddling in the domestic affairs of several Latin American countries using the windfall oil revenues."

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas