Chávez’s decade of media repression

Posted on Tuesday, 08.28.12

VENEZUELA

Chávez's decade of media repression
BY JOEL SIMON
www.cpj.org

Hugo Chávez Frías came to power in 1999 pledging to transform
Venezuela's political culture. He has unquestionably succeeded. In more
than a decade in power, Chávez used the legitimacy he earned through
popular election and a series of referendums to weaken or in some cases
dismantle the institutions of democratic government. His tactics have
ranged from rewriting the country's constitution to stacking the
judiciary with loyalists and supporters.

But no institution has been more radically transformed than the media.

When Chávez first took office he was backed by a portion of the
country's private media. But the relationship soon soured, and as street
protests mounted in 2002 many media companies, including the national
broadcast networks, abandoned any semblance of objectivity and rallied
beside the opposition. After Chávez was briefly ousted in a military
coup in April 2002 he accused media owners of conspiring against his
government.

Chávez all but vowed revenge, and since then his administration has used
a wide range of legislation and regulatory measures to remake the media
landscape, steadily eroding the power and visibility of the private
press and expanding direct government control. The ability of the media
to act as an independent check on power has been deeply compromised as a
result.

A report released today by the Committee to Protect Journalists
chronicles the consequences: Dozens of critical broadcasters have been
pulled off the air; reporters have been jailed for allegedly defaming
officials; and regulators, together with a judiciary allied with the
executive, have censored coverage of sensitive issues. Public
information has become increasingly difficult to access and the
government is restricting reporters allowed at official press conferences.

While weakening the private media, the government has built a vast state
media conglomerate composed of national broadcasters, newspapers and
websites that today serve to disseminate propaganda and smear opposition
journalists. The Venezuelan press was never a paragon of objectivity,
but now, in many instances, it has become an instrument of government
propaganda that is often used to launch smear campaigns against critics.

In the lead-up to the Oct. 7 presidential election that pits Chávez
against former Gov. Henrique Capriles Radonski, ordinary citizens
rightly are concerned about their economic future as inflation continues
to rise. They fear for their personal safety at a time when violence and
crime are rampant. The deeply polarized environment, combined with
serious restrictions journalists face reporting on issues of general
interest, is depriving Venezuelans of vital, independent information. In
the context of the electoral campaign the public is the loser.

The deterioration of Venezuelan journalism has broad implications not
only for Venezuela, but for Latin America in general. Many of Chávez's
strategies to control the flow of information and stifle dissent have
been emulated by his counterparts in the region like Rafael Correa of
Ecuador and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua. These countries together with
nations of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (or ALBA as they're
collectively known in Spanish) have joined forces in an attempt to bring
down the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its special
rapporteur for freedom of expression.

Because Chávez has used his popular mandate to dismantle independent
institutions and extend his own power, each election ironically makes
Venezuela less democratic, as William J. Dobson noted in a recent book,
The Dictator's Learning Curve. The corollary is that as Venezuela
becomes less democratic each subsequent election becomes less legitimate.

With Chávez battling cancer, he must confront his legacy. While he
focuses on consolidating the Bolivarian Revolution, Chávez's failure to
support and nurture independent institutions — including the media — has
the potential to undermine the legitimacy of the upcoming elections and
therefore call into question the popular mandate that has been the
source of his power and authority. Regardless of who prevails at the
polls, rolling back a decade of media repression and fostering a climate
that is more open and more tolerant will be a key challenge for the next
administration.

Joel Simon is executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/28/2972699/chavezs-decade-of-media-repression.html#comment-634781571