Carlos Fernando Chamorro, director of Confidentialthe greatest evidence of the “drastic closure” in his country.
Chamorro shares reflections with other journalists from Venezuela and Cuba who have experienced persecution and agree that behind the abuses of the free exercise of journalism is authoritarianism, regardless of the nuances, be they left or right, and that they are clear that there is ” worrying boom” in the region.
“The signs of authoritarianism in the region are quite clear, and one of the key frontiers is to preserve the freedom of the press, we, even from exile, continue to defend the freedom of the press,” Carlos Fernando Chamorro comments to the Voice of America.
The well-known journalist – on whom an arrest warrant is pending from the Government of Daniel Ortega – fled clandestinely from the country and took refuge in Costa Rica.
Chamorro participated on Monday in an event organized by the Center for Media Integrity in the Americas, “Exiled, not silenced: Journalism under siege,” held at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS).
The Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Pedro Vaca Villarreal, believes that in Latin America it cannot be overlooked that “authoritarianism is becoming a style of being and that to a greater or lesser extent has been growing in the region.”
For Vaca Villarreal, who heads one of the rapporteurships of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an instance attached to the OAS, authoritarianism should pass the focus of discussion, as it is a “clear affront” to democracy.
The official, who moderated the conversation in which, in addition to Chamorro, the exiled journalists Mónica Baró, from Cuba, Boris Muñoz and Luz Mely Reyes from Venezuela, participated, commented to VOA that these testimonies offer a look at three countries where the situation is “dramatic” for journalists.
As a particularity, he points out that in these three nations journalism is being carried out from outside due to the ethical commitment of the community members to inform their audiences.
“We are talking about three dramatic scenarios Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela, where much of the journalism is being done from outside and not by the will of the journalists,” says the special rapporteur.
Alert for Central America
The director of Fundamedios, Dagmar Thiel, gives her opinion in statements to VOA that seeing these three scenarios of marked authoritarianism can offer a temporary line in time, to see how a country like Cuba overcomes 60 years of closure to democratic spaces and freedom of expression.
And if you look at Venezuela already 20 years old and Nicaragua 10, with a marked repression this last year that has left the world disconcerted by the “crudeness” of the actions of a government to silence any attempt at dissidence in the country and with this to the independent press.
“There are countries that are emulating authoritarianism very quickly, Central America is running towards the same system and the international community cannot remain undaunted,” says Thiel.
For this defender of press freedom, the urgent call is for multilateral organizations and governments with the power to issue sanctions to “stop all attempts at authoritarianism.”
It recognizes that free journalism “is the voice that cries out for freedom for all citizens in those countries”, where democratic setbacks are taking place with the siege of the press as one of the first actions of institutional deterioration.
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