Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

AMERICASa n a ly s i s 61Journalists are among the targets of unlawful government espionagein Colombia, Argentina, and other countries. Press freedom suffers asfearful sources grow reluctant to talk.s u m m a r i e sArgentina 68Brazil 71Colombia 74Cuba 77Ecuador 82Honduras 85Mexico 88Nicaragua 91United States 94Venezuela 97In the americas, big brotheris watching reportersb y c a r l o s l a u ríaThe topic being investigated by two colombian reporterswas explosive enough that it required unusual security. Fearful that thesubjects would learn prematurely of the story, the reporters took separate notes,which they did not share and which they later destroyed. They didn’t communicateby telephone or e-mail, and they met only in public locations. They relayedonly the barest information to their own sources.It was not enough. Before Canal Uno television and the newsmagazine Semanawere ready in April to break their joint story, which would address influencepeddlingallegations against the two sons of Colombian President Álvaro UribeVélez, the administration knew all about it. A government spokesman told CanalUno that it was well aware of the inquiry.Daniel Coronell, the Canal Uno news director and Semana columnist wholed the investigation with reporter Ignacio Gómez, is convinced that his team hadbeen victimized by illegal government espionage. It’s possible, he concedes, thatword could have leaked to the administration through other avenues.But in some very important ways, it does not matter.When news erupted in February that national intelligence agents had subjectedjournalists, politicians, judges, and human rights defenders to illegal phonetapping, e-mail interception, and surveillance for much of the decade, it createdsnapshots 102Bolivia, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru,Uruguayp h o t o sSection break: Reuters/Pablo La Rosa—Uruguayan reporters interviewdefeated presidential candidate Luis Alberto Lacalle. Analysis: AP/FernandoVergara—Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez appears at a press conferencewith military leaders to announce the end of unlawful wiretapping.6 0