Reporters Without Borders criticized police violence against local and international journalists covering protests in Chile, and expressed concern for the safety of journalists in a statement released Monday, March 19.
In the statement, Reporters Without Borders noted that of 179 countries, Chile dropped from number 33 to 80 in the World Press Freedom Index published earlier this year, adding that the situation for journalists is not improving.
For example, the organization mentioned the assaults and detentions of journalists, among these Félix Madariaga and Jason Suder, as examples of “abuses of law enforcements” that are happening in Chile.
Such a situation has not existed in Chile since the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship, according to Radio Universidad de Chile, which blamed the current government of Sebastián Piñera for “monitoring, persuading, and ultimately suppressing journalists” with the intention of maintaining public order.
