Posts Tagged ‘Venezuela’
January 17th, 2012
A
Venezuelan journalist has received
threatening messages via Twitter. Luis Carlos Díaz, Communication Networks Coordinator of the Gumilla Center, a Jesuit-run research institution, received a number of intimidating direct messages on Twitter. The attackers insisted Díaz was “going to be taught a lesson” for his remarks on previous cyber attacks which took place
late last year, his activity on social networks, and “working with priests”. The so-called hacker group N33 are believed to be responsible for these latest threats.
October 10th, 2011
Pro-Chavez Hackers in
Venezuela have targeted the emails and social media accounts of journalists. Milagros Socorro, director of the site
Código Venezuela, announced that hackers attacked her blog, Twitter and emails after criticising President Chavez’s communications ministry. Her Twitter profile image was changed to a bar of soap with the headline “wash your mouth out.” Socorro criticised Minister Andrés Izarra for accusing a foreign correspondent of being
unethical and disrespectful to authorities at a press conference in Caracas. It is believed that the group N33, which
have launched cyber attacks on critics of the Chavez administration, are responsible for the attack.
September 19th, 2011
Press access to
Venezuelan ministry representatives
has been restricted. The Venezuelan Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MTC in Spanish) told
the newspaper TalCual that they would no longer be able to speak to representatives following the publication of a report detailing problems with the Metro system in the capital, Caracas. The Press and Society Institute has criticised the Ministry’s decision, stating that it is against the Venezuelan constitution “which guarantees the right to access of public information in Article 28″. In 2010, TalCual was closed by the government following their publication of a satirical editorial describing an imaginary Venezuela without President Hugo Chávez.
September 6th, 2011
The Organization of American States’
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has accused
Venezuela of
censoring the country’s media. IACHR criticised
measures taken against satirical magazine
6to Poder, which was briefly censored for a cover portraying six government officials as cabaret dancers. The organisation released a statement saying that such instances “are against the regional standards for freedom of expression and create an intimidatory environment, encouraging self-censorship.” They also referred to a case against opposition politician Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, who was
sentenced to two years in prison in July 2011 for “distributing false information“, having accused Hugo Chávez’s government of supporting drug trafficking.
September 1st, 2011
The editor of satirical
Venezuelan weekly newspaper 6to Poder
has turned himself in to police on Tuesday while under investigation over a front-page photomontage that angered allies of President Hugo Chávez. Authorities had sought Leocenis García while investigating him on charges of insulting public officials and instigating hatred. The publication and circulation of the magazine were briefly
prohibited after it published a cover with six Venezuelan government officials portrayed as cabaret dancers on 21 August. García insists he is innocent.
August 31st, 2011
A judge has this week
lifted a week-old court ruling banning the distribution of a
Venezuelan magazine after it published a satirical article featuring government officials portrayed as cabaret dancers, which had been deemed offensive to women and public officials. However, the weekly, 6to Poder, was still prohibited from referring to the case in print or from publishing similar content. The paper’s owner and a top executive were charged last week with inciting hatred, insulting a public official, and publicly denigrating women. The criminal cases against them are ongoing.
August 24th, 2011
A court in Caracas has
issued a temporary injunction to prohibit the publication and circulation of satirical magazine 6to Poder after it published a cover with six
Venezuelan government officials portrayed as cabaret dancers on 21 August. On the same day, the Bolivarian Intelligence Service arrested the magazine’s editor, Dinorah Girón, and put out a warrant for the arrest of the president of the company, Leocenis García.
August 22nd, 2011
A journalist with newspaper El Mío, was
beaten and then detained as he left the newspapers premises in Anzoátegui, northeastern
Venezuela. Óscar Tarazona was getting into a car when he spotted the police officers, Tarazona claims he walked over, identified himself as a journalist, and officers proceeded to beat him, handcuff him and take him to a police station. The initial attack was
caught on video. Tarazona was released and subsequently filed a formal complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office. The state’s chief of police, Francisco Ortiz, said that he stood behind the officers.
