The President of Bolivia enacted a law this week that reforms the Electoral Code and establishes a ban on political advertising 90 days prior an election, and limits the amount the media can charge political parties for political advertising.
In a letter sent to the leader of Congress, Enrique Toro Tejada, IAPA President, Robert J. Cox, The Post and Courier, Charleston, South Carolina, and Chairman of the IAPA Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Rafael Molina, Ahora, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, stated that the law not only restricts freedom of the press and information, but also interferes with free enterprise by attempting to control the financial decisions of the media. The IAPA directors requested the law be repealed or amended.
The following is the text of the letter:
"Mr. President:
On behalf of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), I would like to express our deep concern and disapproval of the enactment by Congress of the law that reforms the Electoral Code given that the law infringes on freedom of the press and of expression by placing restrictions on political advertising in the media.
With the new law we are before governmental action that restricts freedom of the press and also interferes with free enterprise. The new measure, on the one hand, ludicrously keeps the media from politically advertising 90 days before an election (Art. 144), while on the other hand, forces the media to charge advertising rates effective during the first six months of the year preceding the elections (Art. 119).
This new law approved by Congress and signed by the Executive Government not only violates Article 7, Section B of the Bolivian Constitution which makes freedom of thought and of expression the right of the people, but also affects the nations legal framework by regulating the media.
Following the principles of the Declaration of Chapultepec, which will be discussed during an IAPA forum scheduled in your country next January, it is our wish to state that a free and independent press is necessary for the existence of a democracy, and that these values are even more necessary during elections - a time in which citizens rely on and need to receive the greatest amount of information and opinions in order to exercise their right to vote.
Despite the political reasons given for reforming the Electoral Code, the IAPA clearly believes that those types of controls on the press limit the ability of the media to accomplish their work freely and the citizens ability to express themselves and become informed.
Therefore, we feel that the only way to protect freedom of the press and guarantee the publics right to information is by overturning that law and repealing the articles in question that threaten freedom of expression and of information, and free enterprise.
We hope that Congress will respect the individual rights of citizens and the independence of the media. Very truly yours."
