The creation of a new intelligence body in Venezuela that, among other powers, has the capacity to declare information as "reserved" or "classified," generated concern among different national and international organizations, several publications reported.
In the Official Gazette on Oct. 7, President Nicolás Maduro, decreed the creation of the Strategic Center of Security and Protection of the Homeland (Cesppa), newspaper La Nación informed.
If a piece of information, fact or circumstance is considered strategic to preserve national security and neutralize potential internal or external enemy threats, Cesppa can declare the information as reserved, classified or for limited dissemination, the newspaper added.
According to Article 3 of the decree, the new intelligence body "will solicit, organize, integrate and evaluate information that is of strategic interest for the nation, associated with the activity of internal and external enemies, which will come from all bodies of intelligence and security of the State and other public and private entities, according to what is required by the Politico-Military Directorate of the Bolivarian Revolution."
Reporters without Borders (RSF) pointed out that this new intelligence body puts access to information at risk. "While the Law of Social Responsibility in Radio, Television and Electronic Communication (Resortemec) puts important obstacles on the freedom to inform, the current decree acts directly against the right to be informed, which is considered by the Bolivarian Constitution," the organization said.
In interviews with the newspaper El Nacional, experts pointed out that the objective of the new body is to restrict information in Venezuela. One of the experts, sociologist Óscar Lucien, said that this body forms part of "a systematic plan of harassment against independent media."
Lucien added that Cesppa is looking to conceal the problems that afflict the nation because he considers that the government has "the false logic that if they're not talked about, the problems don't exist."
President Maduro recently called to punish the media that report about the shortage in Venezuela because the information is considered to go against food security and the country's economy.
The National College of Journalists and the National Union of Press Workers challenged the decree creating Cesppa, added RSF. Only the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) can annul the new body, if it admits its unconstitutionality. However, according to RSF, "it is very rare that the TSJ makes unfavorable decisions in cases against the government."
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.
