Earl Maucker Disputes 'E&P' Guest Column on IAPA and Press Freedom in Venezuela

By: E&P Staff A current E&P guest column -- sparked by an article about press freedoms in Hugo Chavez's Venezuela on this site -- has now drawn a response from Earl Maucker, editor of the South Florida Sun-Sentinal in Fort Lauderdale and, more to the point in this case, president of the Inter American Press Association.

Maucker notes that in the column, "The Many Sides Of Venezuelan Media," published here on January 7, the writer, Mark Weisbrot, "says he has the impression that the Inter American Press Association is not defending press freedom, but rather taking sides in a partisan struggle, in a politically polarized country.

"It?s obvious from Mr. Weisbrot?s letter, he just doesn?t get it."

The rest of the Maucker letter follows.
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The Inter American Press Association of which I am president, defends the principles of journalism. It does not engage in partisan politics ? in fact, it goes to great lengths to avoid that. On the recent mission that I personally led to Venezuela, we had ample opportunity to engage in political debate, but steadfastly avoided getting involved with the country?s upcoming election.

Whether the Venezuela press supports the opposition or is even considered the opposition by some is not the issue. The IAPA stands for a free and open press.

The IAPA has defended and supported the work of the press in Venezuela and has properly protested to the government of President Hugo Ch?vez over the repeated, systematic direct and indirect outrages committed against news media and individual journalists at the legal, juridical and administrative levels.

The IAPA has carried out 10 investigative missions since Ch?vez assumed power in 1999, and monitoring and issuing unceasing public complaints to the authorities in that country.

Our organization has made repeated attempts to meet with President Chavez to discuss these issues, but have consistently been refused an audience.

If defending press principles is considered taking sides in a politically polarized country, then I fear that the IAPA will never be objective. We will always land on the side of freedom of the press and freedom overall which is our tradition. We have been in many such battles before such as the despotic governments and various ideologies such as those of Castro, Per?n, Trujillo, Stroessner, Pinochet, P?rez Jim?nez, Velasco Alvarado and Videla, among others.

There are some statements in Weisbrot?s article that are untrue, such as saying that Venezuela enjoys a censorship-free climate or that today the media there is more diverse. That is just not so. Censorship has a legal and juridical character and the greater diversity is nothing more than the creation of a large number of official media ? television, radio and print ? subsidized by the government with official advertising denied to privately-owned or independent outlets, in order to make propaganda in favor of the government apparatus. Moreover, persecution of journalists and independent media goes on. The shutdown of RCTV television can only be described as official censorship, despite the fact that legal justification was cited, although never demonstrated. Neither is it true that reporters are not persecuted. In South Florida, where I live, there is a large group of exiled Venezuelan journalists, among them Patricia Poleo, former editor of the newspaper El Nuevo Pa?s. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, as well as other inter-governmental and international organizations dedicated to these issues, can testify as to the innumerable cases of persecution. They are documented and have been denounced publicly.

The columnist suggests that the IAPA should set up a panel of experts to compare freedom of the press in Venezuela with other countries in the region. We invite him to come to our twice-yearly assemblies to witness in person the level of ongoing debate in our organization, which indeed representatives of the Ch?vez government have attended to express their views and discuss. The country-by-country reports that are issued in our meetings give testimony to this.

Finally, I would tell you that the denunciations by our organization on the lack of press freedom in Venezuela are based on constant monitoring and rigorous investigation. I do not see this as taking a position for any particular ideology, but rather simply defending the public?s right to know.

Sincerely,
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Earl Maucker
President
Inter American Press Association