Venezuelan authorities deported Spanish freelance journalist Aitor Sáez ahead of protests planned for Jan. 23, continuing a pattern of treatment towards international journalists prior to mass demonstrations.
The National Association of Press Workers posted on Twitter that the Administrative Service of Identification, Migration and Foreigners (SAIME for its acronym in Spanish) said Sáez did not meet requirements to enter the country.
Sáez, a correspondent for Germany’s Deutsche Welle (DW) who is based in Bogota, Colombia, has been posting various updates to his Twitter account regarding the deportation.
He wrote yesterday, “One hour from deportation. It hurts not to be able to report tomorrow such an important day for democracy #Venezuela.”
Sáez previously wrote that no one from SAIME provided him with an explanation. He added that this most recent trip to Caracas was the sixth such trip he took in the last year.
Both the government and opposition are holding marches on Jan. 23 in Caracas as it marks 59 years since the fall of the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez, according to El Universal.
National Assembly president and opposition leader Julio Borges called for the march as a rejection of violence and insecurity in the country. La Patilla reported that José Ignacio Guédez, secretary of the National Assembly, said they would march to the headquarters of the National Electoral Council to call for a timetable for elections of governors and mayor, but that they also wanted “to reach an agreement so that there are anticipated presidential elections to end the crisis.”
By contrast, the official march will bring the remains of journalist and revolutionary Fabricio Ojeda to the National Pantheon, according to El Universal.
This is not the first time that international journalists have been barred from entering Venezuela ahead of protests. Foreign correspondents were also turned away ahead of mass protests on Sept. 1, 2016 and Oct. 26, 2016. Local journalists also reported restrictions to carrying out their work during these demonstrations.
Yet, detentions of journalists are not limited solely to the time period around protests. The Press and Society Institute of Venezuela (IPYS for its acronym in Spanish) previously told the Knight Center it recorded 22 instances of arbitrary detentions of directors, journalists and photojournalists between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, 2016.
Updates on the opposition protest are being posted to social media using the hashtag #23E.
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.
