Index on Censorship » Venezuela

Venezuela: Third news outlet attacked in a week

Marta Cooper — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 11:37:38 +0000

The headquarters of Venezuelan newspaper Versión Final, in the city of Maracaibo, was shot at nine times on 3 June, making the attack the third of its kind against a media outlet in the northeastern state of Zulia. On 28 May, the headquarters of newspaper Qué Pasa was attacked by a grenade that damaged the front side of the building, although there were no casualties. The following day, the public television station in Catatumbo suffered an armed attack.

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Venezuela: Chavez accuses press of “media terrorism”

Marta Cooper — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:23:21 +0000

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez accused the press of “media terrorism” during a Ministers Council meeting this week, following reports on contamination of drinking water in the central region of the country. Chavez attributed the stories to an attempt to damage his image in an electoral year. After speaking with Chavez, Venezuela’s attorney general Luisa Ortega announced on Wednesday that she would ask the courts to order the media to publish a technical report supporting the information published about water contamination. The prosecutor’s office also opened a criminal investigation into the news outlets that published the stories.

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Venezuela: Armed group accuses Globovisión of hiring paramilitaries to create mayhem

Alice Purkiss — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:40:21 +0000

Venezuelan TV channel Globovisión have been accused of hiring paramilitary men to be involved in armed stand-offs on 10 March, resulting in two deaths. Members of armed group Colectivo La Piedrita went to the offices of Globovisión to accuse the station of hiring paramilitaries to ”promote violence” and blame them for the deaths of two former members of the group. Appearing with the hearses of the deceased group members, Colectivo demanded authorities investigate the deaths. The group also accused “Ultimas Noticias” newspaper of engaging in a “terrorist-media campaign” operating via social networks.

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Venezuela: Globovisión journalists attacked

Alice Purkiss — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:33:10 +0000

A team of Globovisión journalists were attacked by supporters of President Hugo Chávez in Venezuela on Sunday. The journalists were covering an opposition political rally when assailants wearing red shirts associated with Chávez supporters threatened them with guns and stole their equipment. The march by opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski had previously been interuppted by armed men who fired weapons in an apparent effort to break up the rally. The footage recorded by the staff from Globovisión, Venezuela’s last critical TV news station, was stolen by the attackers, along with a camera, microphone, and radios.

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Venezuela: Journalist threatened via Twitter

Alice Purkiss — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:41:15 +0000

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.

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Venezuela: Pro-Chavez hackers target journalists

Alice Purkiss — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 11:04:27 +0000

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.

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Venezuela: Ministry denies newspaper press access following critical report

Alice Purkiss — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:02:49 +0000

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.

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Venezuela: Human rights commission accuses country of censoring press

Marta Cooper — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:25:15 +0000

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.

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Venezuela: Editor of censored magazine turns himself in

Marta Cooper — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 13:31:09 +0000

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.

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Venezuela: Censored magazine re-opens, executives still charged

Marta Cooper — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 09:08:11 +0000

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.

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