VENEZUELA

WHEREAS
affronts, assaults and malicious proceedings intended to intimidate journalists have not stopped, but have increased in Venezuela through the actions of all branches of government and incitements to violence by Venezuela’s president

WHEREAS
President Chavez has declared this the “year of the media war”

WHEREAS
the Venezuelan press has once again been designated as an immediate target of the Chavez regime in his bid to control the media in Venezuela, this time using all forms of state terrorism: public scorn, physical assaults, attacks through judicial, administrative and court proceedings and the new pressure point of restricting access to foreign currency

WHEREAS
the system of foreign exchange restrictions established two months ago by the Chavez regime specifically rules out access to foreign currency for importing newsprint, which is not produced in Venezuela

WHEREAS
President Chavez has made it mandatory for radio and television stations to broadcast “national channels” that carry his speeches and political propaganda

WHEREAS
the Chavez government is demanding that the National Assembly pass a law that would give the government control over radio and television content

WHEREAS
the government has instituted simultaneous administrative proceedings against television stations with the goal of suspending their licenses temporarily or permanently

WHEREAS
Principle 5 of the Declaration of Chapultepec establishes that “Prior censorship, restrictions on the circulation of the media or dissemination of their reports, forced publication of information, the imposition of obstacles to the free flow of news, and restrictions on the activities and movements of journalists directly contradict freedom of the press”

THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES
to condemn the violence against the media that has become a fact of life in Venezuela in recent years

to condemn President Hugo Chavez’s campaign against the media through such actions as making foreign currency unavailable by order of the government for the purchase of newsprint

to hold President Hugo Chavez responsible for the physical safety of journalists, photographers, cameramen and others working in the media who are assaulted by government officials or supporters.

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