There is discord between the government of Bolivian President Evo Morales and a large sector of the media, as well as organizations defending freedom of expression, said Edison Lanza, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), during a visit to La Paz, according to Página Siete.
The Special Rapporteur recommended that Morales and his officials tone down the polarization regarding media reports of public interest that are critical of his government.
“Bolivian democracy would gain a lot if the debate of ideas and the debate of opinions and responses occurred in other terms,” Lanza said to Página Siete.
Meanwhile, the Bolivian president accused Lanza, through his Twitter account, of having joined the “cartel of lies” in Bolivia.
He added, “To defend some media outlets that do journalism with lies and defamation is not defending freedom of expression.”
In response, Lanza noted that those statements do not contribute to a climate of plurality and tolerance, Erbol reported.
Since May of this year, Morales and several officials of his government have accused a group of critical journalists and media outlets of misrepresenting information about his government, and of being part of a “cartel of lies.”
In this regard, various organizations defending press freedom, like Reporters Without Borders (RSF for its initials in French), have warned about increasing hostility, led by the country’s authorities, against the press in Bolivia. They referred to public accusations and intimidations or threats of judicial prosecutions against journalists, among others.
Similarly, regarding the current situation of press freedom in the country, Lanza also noted that not only actors of the government, but protesters, police officers and local leaders also are participating in the attacks on journalists, according to Página Siete.
“I think there is a State obligation to protect journalists because when a journalist who is covering an event is assaulted, obviously there is a violation of personal integrity, but also the right of society to receive information that this journalist is covering,” Lanza said.
The Rapporteur also highlighted the reduction in the space of independent critical media. He said that, according to civil society, through mechanisms like official publicity, there is less independent, critical and investigative journalism, Página Siete reported.
According to EFE, the National Press Association (ANP for its initials in Spanish) recently reported that the government exercised a “publicity asphyxia” to publications with “editorial independence.”
Lanza said the government should not discriminate against the media with the distribution of advertisements, EFE reported.
“Governments now have many subtle or indirect ways and means to replace freedom of expression. They can do it through official advertising, paper resources, broadcast frequencies, with the direction of taxes,” the Special Rapporteur said to Página Siete.
Lanza, who visited Bolivia on Aug. 24 for academic reasons, recommended that Morales contemplate the issue.
“They are not asking (civil society) for the fall of the government, for laws to be repealed, that are asking for a climate of respect to exercise freedom of expression, so that a more participatory society flourishes and so that there is no fear of exercising freedom of expression and journalism” Página Siete reported.
Lanza, an Uruguayan lawyer, recalled during the Página Siete interview that after the referendum on Feb. 21, 2016, in which citizens declined to modify the constitution to allow another re-election of Morales, his office received requests for precautionary measures, there were journalists who lost their jobs for reporting and investigating, and other complaints.
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.
