Sympathizers of Ecuador's President Rafael Correa protested last week outside the María Moors Cabot Prizes ceremony in opposition to Columbia University's decision to give the Ecuadorian newspaper El Universo an honorary citation for its defense of freedom of expression, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported.
On Thursday, around 20 protesters gathered outside the university's Italian Academy building, where the ceremony took place, and yelled slogans like "Down the with corrupt press!" and "Long live President Correa!" The protesters held Ecuadorian flags, photos of Correa and banners, one of which listed several of the main news outlets and journalism organizations in South America, Spain and the United States -- including CPJ -- and called them "enemies of Latin American democracy."
CPJ said it was the first time award winners were received by protesters.
Since 1938, Columbia University honors journalists that contribute to greater Inter-American understanding with the María Moors Cabot awards.
The newspaper El Universo and "many other Ecuadorian journalists have bravely defended their right and obligation to speak for democratic society," said the newspaper. While many countries in Latin America are turning away from criminal libel laws, Ecuador is one of the countries that uses them most, according to Columbia University's website. "The leadership has recently fallen in love with the power to send journalists to prison who disagree with the governing party," said El Universo.
El Universo was charged by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in March 2011 with libel for publishing an opinion piece by Emilio Palacio, who criticized Correa's actions during a police strike on Sept. 30, 2010. The National Court of Ecuador sentenced the newspaper's owners and the columnist to pay a $40 million fine and three years in jail.
"Correa ultimately pardoned El Universo but continues his battle to control the media with televised anti-media rants, personal smears, economic sanctions and pressure on the National Assembly to introduce press regulations and restrictions," the acknowledgement said on the prize's website.
Four other journalists were honored at the 74th Cabot Prize for their contribution to improving understanding in the Western Hemisphere. Among the awardees were Venezuelan Teodoro Petkoff, who started his career as a journalist at 66 years old when he founded the newspaper Tal Cual, which is known for criticizing President Hugo Chávez; The Wall Street Journal's Latin America Bureau Chief David Luhnow; Juan Forero, South America correspondent for The Washington Post and National Public Radio; and Miguel Ángel Bastenier, columnist and editor of the Spanish newspaper El País and instructor at the New Ibero-American Journalism Foundation in Colombia.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
