VENEZUELAN MEDIA FACES CRACKDOWN

70 newspapers, TV and radio stations shut down as attacks on journalists rise

CARACAS 66 arrests. It ascribed this to efforts by the government of President Nicolas Maduro to “silence, at whatever price, the discontent about the ever-worsening economic and social situation”, which includes hyperinflation and scarcities of basic goods such as food and medicine.

The number of attacks on members of the press was up by 26.5 per cent compared with last year, when 360 acts of aggression against media workers were recorded, the union said.

Most took place during antigovernment protests between April and June, which left 125 people dead, according to the union, which said around 70 per cent of those deaths were at the hands of police or armed forces.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued an “urgent call” this year for the resumption of broadcasts by radio and TV stations that had been taken off air.

Maduro and his aides have denounced local and international media for what they term a “smear campaign” and “war-time propaganda” aimed at the government.

Broadcasters have been forced to close down after their licences expired and were not reissued, while many newspapers have been unable to buy paper, whose distribution is managed by a government-controlled company.

Those newspapers that did manage to remain in operation had to cut the number of pages and print runs, the union said.

International media have also had their operations impacted: CNN’s Spanish-language broadcasts, as well as channels from neighbouring Colombia, have been removed from cable packages at the government’s behest. AFP