FOCUS ON THE AMERICAS - International Press Institute

Above: Hebe de Bonafini (L), leader of the human rights group Madres de Plaza de Mayo, arrives for a rally in Buenos Aires on April 29, 2010. Bonafini led a symbolic "court of justice",
making an ethical judgment against journalists and media companies who, according to her organization, openly defended the 1976-1983 military dictatorship in Argentina. (REUTERS)
up a heated debate on the state of freedom
of expression in the country. The administration
alleges that the papers colluded
with a military regime more than three
decades ago to force the sale of a newsprint
supplier.
A few days after the implementation
of the law began,
unidentified assailants
stabbed reporter Adams
Ledesma Valenzuela to death in an impoverished
neighborhood in Buenos Aires. The
motives behind the attack remain unclear.
Argentina had begun taking steps to diversify
broadcast media ownership and decriminalize
libel in 2009. However, the
overall level of press freedom has remained
unchanged. Observers have argued that
the new regulations unfairly targeted government
critics.
In a rare positive development, though, the
legislature approved a law to eliminate imprisonment
as a punishment for libel and
slander by journalists.
50 IPI REVIEW
Throughout the year, journalists and news
organizations were targeted in several acts
of violence. In 2009, the Argentine Journalism
Forum (FOPEA) counted 147 cases of
aggression against journalists and threats
to freedom of expression in 2009, including
The overall level of press freedom
has remained unchanged.
pressures imposed by advertisers, media
owners, directors and employees of public
agencies. On an interactive map, FOPEA
found that the 147 incidents included 52
cases of physical aggression, 19 attempts
against private property and against the
broadcast or publication of information, 15
cases of censorship and 12 death threats.
The most frequent perpetrators were public
officials.
While Argentina has sometimes censored
search results to protect the privacy of
celebrities, there were no new reports of government
restrictions on the Internet in 2010.
Recommendations
• Revise the Law on Audio-Visual services.
• Grant more protection and freedom to
journalists’ working on sensitive issues.
• Protect media outlets, especially radio stations,
against vandalism.
• Ensure that bill regarding the Right to Information
is passed.
Argentina in Brief
Population: 40.6 million
Domestic Overview:
Despite being rich in resources and possessing
a well-educated work force,
Argentina has faced the problems of a
boom and bust cycle. 2001 was the year
of the economic collapse and despite a
recovery, poverty and unemployment
remain a problem.
Beyond Borders:
The relations with Uruguay are troubled
by an argument over paper mills. The
claim over Falklands has not made it popular
in the UK either.
South America
Bolivia
By Randall Corella Vargas
I
n 2006, Reporters Without Borders ranked
Bolivia as the Latin American country with
the greatest degree of press freedom: The
Andean nation was ranked 16th in the
world. However, four years later the situation
has changed dra-
matically. In 2010,
the country’s Reporters
Without Borders
ranking was 103
out of 178 countries
assessed on five continents.
This represented
a fall of eight
positions compared to 2009.
Violence, intimidation and blockades generating
a climate of political polarization
for the media were cataloged by the international
organization as the causes of the
critical situation faced by Bolivia and other
Andean countries.
“The fact is that it is more and more risky to
be a journalist in Bolivia and that fewer
young people want to be journalists, due to
the political situation. We should join together
more as an association to fight for a
common cause,” the general secretary of
the Federation of Press Workers of Bolivia,
Patzi Osman, told the newspaper La Prensa.
It is likely that Bolivia’s press freedom ranking
will drop further in 2011, due to an
anti-racism law promoted by the government
that has mobilized thousands of journalists
in recent months.
According to statistics from the National
Press Association (ANP), 148 Bolivian journalists
were targeted between January and
November 2010. Of these, 61 were victims
of verbal aggression, 22 suffered physical
aggression and 33 were prevented from
covering a story.
The attacks, which included threats, transmission
prevention, reprisals and legal action
infringing on freedom of expression,
affected a total of 93 Bolivian media outlets.
According to the ANP, most of the journalists
were singled out by public officials or
by the government, mobs of protestors, police,
the military, judicial officers, or by the
president, Evo Morales.
The attacks, which included threats,
transmission prevention, reprisals and
legal action infringing on freedom of
expression, affected a total of 93 Bolivian
media outlets.
In February, the media requested access to
files from military dictatorships in an effort
to shed light on 156 disappearances and
murders between 1980 and 1981, including
the killing of journalist Marcelo Quiroga
Santa Cruz - but the army prosecutor rejected
the request.
Finally, on May 31, Bolivian armed forces
decided to declassify the files of the dictatorship,
thereby allowing the identification
of military personnel involved in gross violations
of human rights.
On March 13, the host of the local TV show
Sin Letra Chica, Carlos Valverde Bravo,
broadcast images of a beating he had received
days before in Santa Cruz de la
Sierra. Valverde accused the organizer of
the Miss Bolivia beauty contest, Gloria
Limpias, of masterminding the attack. The
journalist said he was assaulted by two of
Limpias’ brothers, as retaliation for his
comments about the presence of several
female candidates in the election campaign
of the official party.
On June, also in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a
group of street vendors attacked several
journalists with sticks and stones. The
vendors, who were protesting against the
local municipality, surrounded the building
and then attacked reporters covering
the events.
IPI REVIEW
51