Press freedom threatened in Venezuela
The Venezuelan justice system has sued the newspaper El Nacional for defamation and libel. The lawsuit was filed following a 2015 publication containing allegations by Lieutenant Commander Leamsy Salazar accusing Diosdado Cabello, number two in the Bolivarian regime and vice-president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, of having links to drug trafficking. Salazar, for years Hugo Chávez's security chief, defected to the United States shortly before these events took place.
The Civil Cassation Chamber of the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice issued a ruling forcing El Nacional to pay $13 million to Cabello for moral damages and defamation. El Nacional was not the only newspaper to give visibility to these accusations, as they were originally published by the Spanish newspaper ABC and replicated by other international media.
This was one of the main topics discussed at the New Economy Forum's telematic event on 20 May, where Juan Luis Cebrián, honorary president of El País and member of the Real Academia de la Lengua, and Miguel Otero, editor of Venezuela's El Nacional, took part. The purpose of the event was to discuss freedom of expression and freedom of the press in Latin America.
Cebrián opened the discussion by stating that freedom is always under threat because it is a very fragile asset that must be protected and defended through the institutions of democracy. He considered that without it there is no place for the rest of the democratic freedoms since freedom of expression is the key to democracy itself. For this reason, freedom of the press and printing are found in the Cadiz Constitution, as it is fundamental to the process of government accountability. He also added that Maduro's regime is the total absence of political freedoms and even human rights in Venezuela.
Otero, currently in exile in Spain, argued that the Venezuelan executive controls and uses the judicial system to take action against institutions and newspapers that go against the Bolivarian revolution, thus undermining democratic freedoms. El Nacional has been threatened for 20 years and this is not the first time the government has retaliated against the newspaper. Otero commented that on one occasion they had a bomb planted against them and that the culprit was caught, but was released. He also stressed that they are an independent media, which does not receive public money, as they have always opposed offers of purchase by the regime.
Regarding the defamation lawsuit against them and two other Venezuelan media outlets, he argued that the US Drug Enforcement Administration was already investigating Cabello for drug trafficking and that the newspaper simply published what was a reality, so there was no defamation.
It appears that the Armed Forces have also ransacked and occupied the premises of El Nacional, but despite this they will continue to broadcast news online, whether from Venezuela or anywhere else in the world. The editor does not hesitate to express his desire to publish the headline "Venezuela returns to democracy" one day, although he considers that transparent elections are a long way off.
Regarding the contracts between Maduro and Guaidó, Cebrián explained that there is no possible way out right now, but rather a process of negotiation. It is necessary for the regime to negotiate with the democratic parties, but there is no negotiation possible when there are dozens of political prisoners in Venezuelan jails. He inferred that Spain's position is essential and that it has not always been sufficiently clear when it comes to promoting democracy in Latin America. He emphasised that the "contacts of sectors of the Socialist Party such as those of former president Zapatero with the tyrant Maduro" are very worrying for democrats in both nations. The position of the United States is also fundamental, as is its presence at the negotiating table.
Regarding the economic and social impact of the pandemic and how Latin America could emerge from this catastrophe, Cebrián said that one cannot speak of Latin America as a whole in this respect, as there are many differences in performance between countries in dealing with the COVID crisis. Both the United States and Europe have left a vacuum of influence in the region and that, for the moment, the country that has been most supportive of vaccines has been China, followed by Russia. Both considered that Biden's arrival at the White House could mean a change in relations between the United States and Latin America.
The effects of the pandemic have also been magnified in the region by terrible social inequality and the nefarious actions of some politicians, such as Bolsonaro's denialism in Brazil. Otero added that in Venezuela the official figures of cases and deaths from COVID are false and hard to believe as they do not even reflect 15% of what is happening. At the same time, there is no mass vaccination and only those who are close to the regime or have the "Carnet de la Patria" have been vaccinated.
Regarding what is happening in Cali and the possible similarities between the demonstrations in Colombia and Chile, Cebrián said that there are two links: social inequality and the weakness of institutions. These demonstrations are the result of the economic crisis of 2008, which has impoverished the middle class. At the same time, the deterioration of political leadership on a global level favours the rise of populism and demonstrations against the system, which is why it is not only a Latin American problem, but a global one.
In relation to this issue, Otero explained that behind all this is the São Paulo Forum, a structure created with the support of Cuba with the aim of bringing the extreme left to power through the instruments of democracy, with free elections, and then, once in government, dynamiting democratic institutions and guarantees. In this way, they manage to change the rules of the game little by little. In this regard, he presented the case of Venezuela and Nicaragua, together with Podemos in Spain.