FOCUS ON THE AMERICAS - International Press Institute

tive figure: He has never given a press conference,
his political agenda is virtually unknown,
his government’s officials are inaccessible,
and his health is apparently a state
secret”, CPJ wrote.
The government is using all its branches
for intimidation. Between September
2009 and February 2010, the Labor Ministry
and the Nicaraguan Social Security
Institute inspected the independent newspaper
La Prensa nine times. Its news editor,
Eduardo Enriquez, revealed, in an
IAPA session in February, that he had
been requesting a replacement for his
stolen ID card since July 2009, but that
after seven months and many letters his
petition had not even been answered. He
considered this development to be a form
of political retaliation.
Since La Prensa decided in August to rescind
the contract of several distributors,
members of the National Labor Front
(which supports Ortega) have gathered
outside the building - and recently in front
of the homes of members of the board of
directors - brandishing loudspeakers, and
demanding the rehiring of the distributors.
The protests have blocked the newspaper’s
distribution.
Another episode was the sabotage of the
transmission towers of Radio Corporacion
to prevent the airing of critical views. Police
alleged that individuals were stealing the
cables to sell them.
In order to focus attention on the president,
TELCOR, the institution that regulates
Nicaragua’s telecommunications, modified
an administrative regulation to force all
broadcasters, even those transmitted by
cable or satellite services, to communicate
Ortega’s “cadenas”, or messages to the nation.
Rule 009-2010, published on September
30, commands that in emergencies relating
to the security and defense of the nation,
to economic or social situations or to
any natural catastrophe, the subscription
operators will put their installations and
services at the disposal of the government.
“Those who carry licenses must abstain
from introducing programs with content
different from those which require attention.
If this disposition is not followed, it
will be considered a severe infraction of the
license contract”.
Recommendations
• The government, and authorities, must
cease to employ degrading language to
discredit critical journalists and media
outlets.
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The government continues to try to strangle the independent
media, discriminating against them in the placement of
official advertising, and intimidating reporters, editors, executives
and owners of media with constant verbal attacks,
threats and discrediting remarks.
• All media must be allowed access to press
conferences and official information.
• The authorities must regularize the
broadcasting licenses situation, so that
the lack of official permission can no
longer be used as an instrument of intimidation.
Nicaragua in Brief
Population: 5.7 million
Domestic Overview:
Nicaragua is the second poorest country
on the continent, after Haiti, according to
the World Bank. It has been affected by
natural disasters, political conflicts and a
civil war. Between 1934 and 1979, the authoritarian
government of the Somoza
family led it the nation, but in 1979, the leftist
rebel group Sandinista National Liberation
Front (FSLN) overthrew the dictatorship.
The United States financed the opposition
forces, which led to a civil war that left
around 150,000 victims. In 1990, after signing
a peace treaty, Violeta Barrios de
Chamorro won the elections. For 16 years,
rightwing presidents governed the country,
and in 2007, the leftist, Daniel Ortega, won
the elections. He reformed the electoral law
in order to allow him to be a candidate again
in 2011. Ortega has been accused of corruption,
nepotism and having disregard for the
principle of separation and independence of
the branches of the government.
Beyond Borders:
The administration of President Daniel Ortega
is very close to Venezuela, Cuba and
Iran. It is part of the Bolivarian Alliance for
the Americas (ALBA), a regional economic
association through which the Venezuelan
government provides Nicaragua with 10
million barrels of oil annually. Ortega has
created a network of private businesses
under the auspices of the ALBA. The funds
generated from the resale of Venezuelan oil
are dedicated to social projects but administered
directly by the president’s office. This
has raised concerns that the money could be
allocated in a corrupt or politicized manner.
In 2010, a border dispute between
Nicaragua and Costa Rica was taken to
the Organization of American States
(OEA) due to the dredging of the Rio San
Juan. Costa Rica argued that Nicaragua’s
presence was affecting its sovereignty because
it was Costa Rican territory. The
conflict has not been resolved yet.
IPI Contributor
María Haydeé Brenes Flores is a Nicaraguan journalist
with 10 years of experience. She currently writes
for the Sunday section of the newspaper La Prensa.
She has also worked at the newspapers El Nuevo Diario
and Hoy. She was part of the Balboa Program for
Young Ibero-American Journalists, of the Dialogos
foundation (2009). She received the National Award
for the Rights of Children and Adolescents, from
UNICEF and the Universidad Centroamericana
(UCA) in 2010. The mother of two sons, she is convinced
that freedom of expression is the cornerstone
of democracy.
IPI Contributor
Mariela Hoyer Guerrero is a Venezuelan journalist with
six years of experience at the El Nacional newspaper
and other national and international publications. She
co-authored the book “Barrio Adentro, Historias de
una Misión”, an investigative report about a health
program created by Venezuelan President Hugo
Chávez with the help of Cuban doctors. In 2009, she
was awarded an internship to represent Venezuela in
the Balboa Program for Young Ibero-American Journalists,
in Spain. During her six months in Madrid, she
studied, and worked for the Cinco Dias newspaper.
Central America
Panama
By Saurabh Sati
There was good news in 2010 for
press activists in Panama as two journalists
sentenced to jail for defaming officials
were pardoned by President Ricardo Martinelli.
At the same time, though, the pardon
served to emphasize the central problem
Panama faces when it comes to
defamation laws and their impact on freedom
of the media.
The law in Panama safeguards freedom of
the press and there are few cases of violence
directed at journalists.
There are a large number of private players
in the media market with many radio stations
and TV networks. Over 28 per cent of
the population accesses the Internet and the
growth of online media has followed trends
around the world. In this positive environment,
it is threats of official or judicial abuse
by authorities that troubles the press corps.
On September 28, Sabrina Bacal, TVN
Canal’s news director, and reporter Justino
González had been sentenced by an appeals
court to a year
in jail and barred
from carrying out
journalistic activities
for a year because
they aired a story in
2005 accusing
Panamian officials of
involvement in
human trafficking.
Confronted with criticism
from local media and press activists,
President Martinelli offered a pardon,
which was welcomed, but journalists are
still calling for a revision of the laws that
they feel hinder freedom of expression.
On October 8, the TV channels and radio
stations went off the air for 30 seconds in
protest against these regulations. The
evening saw the journalists in front of the
Supreme Court, protesting and demanding
a repeal of the laws. Their actions highlight
a problem that has been underscored
over the years. Earlier in the year, Carlos
Núñez López – a veteran journalist –spent
20 days in prison for allegedly defaming a
property owner in a story dealing with environmental
damage.
Tension between the media and the authorities
also came to the forefront when
the government tried to expel Spanish
journalist Paco Gómez Nadal. Throughout
the latter half of 2010, Nadal was living
under the threat of having his residency revoked
because he was working to defend
the country’s indigenous peoples.
Equally contentious was a high court judgment
ordering the newspaper La Prensa to
pay U.S.$ 300,000 in damages to a former
public prosecutor, because the newspaper
had published official reports highlighting
problems under the prosecutor’s watch.
February saw the National Assembly of
Panama facing a bill that would establish a
national agency to look after the self-regulation
of the news media.
On September 28, Sabrina Bacal, TVN
Canal’s news director, and reporter
Justino González had been sentenced
by an appeals court to a year in jail and
barred from carrying out journalistic
activities for a year.
The end of the year was no different in regard
to friction between the authorities and
the media, with journalists in uproar over
the government’s decision to grant asylum
to María del Pilar Hurtado, the former head
of Colombia’s intelligence agency – the Administrative
Department of Security (DAS).
Under the two presidential terms served by
Uribe, the DAS committed several actions
that ran contrary to freedom of the press –
from illegal phone taps to sabotage. The
targets of these actions included journalists
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