In a statement, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized the Ecuadorian government for "flagrantly" distorting information about what was discussed during a meeting between HRW and the National Communication Secretary of Ecuador, Fernando Alvarado, where freedom of expression in the country was debated.
The accusations stemmed from an interview that Alvarado gave to the official government newspaper, El Ciudadano, where he “insinuated that Human Rights Watch endorses some governmental politics that threaten freedom of expression,” when in reality, the organization had said that it considered freedom of expression in Ecuador to be "one of the worst in the region," reported the EFE agency.
Alvarado also said that all the NGOs with which he had met during his visit in Washington said that they understood the reasons why the president sued the newspaper El Universo and the authors of the book "Big Brother,” reported El Universo.
In response to the accusations, El Ciudadano published a story stating that the journalist who did the interview had “mistakenly interpreted and taken out of context" what Alvarado said. The interview, conducted March 4, is no longer available, but it can be read here.
