By Maira Magro
The government's new so-called "situation agency" has the power to suppress "any information" deemed of national interest and will likely be seen as a further restriction by the Chávez administration of anti-government news, before legislative elections on Sept. 26, AFP reports.
Created by presidential decree, the Center for Situational Studies of the Nation (CESNA) "will be tasked on a permanent basis with gathering processing and analyzing information," the decree says, cited by AFP. It is linked to the Interior and Justice Ministry.
The government said CESNA's objective is to assist the Executive branch in formulating public policies and making strategic decisions. However, several non-governmental organizations accused the decree of violating the right of access to information. "Any aspect of national interest can be classified as limited information, and this is a formal classification of a state of permanent exception," said Rocío San Miguel, director of the NGO Control Ciudadano (Citizen Control), as quoted by El Carabobeño.
The director of Espacio Público (Public Space), Carlos Correa, said the decree's ambiguous language makes abuse possible. "The decree is so vague that it could deny information about itself to people," he told El Nacional.
The Forum for Human Rights and Democracy of Venezuela urged that the measure creating the agency be repealed immediately, EFE adds. According to another AFP article, Chávez's government hasn't reported official data on health and insecurity for several months.
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.
