Venezuela Archives - Committee to Protect Journalists

Inmates are subdued after a prison riot in Cabimas, Venezuela. Globovisión was fined more than US$2 million for its coverage of the uprising. (AP)

Globovisión fined millions for its riot reporting

October 19, 2011 3:13 PM EDT

New York, October 19, 2011–Venezuela’s telecommunications regulator has fined Globovisión, the country’s last remaining critical network, more than US$2 million for its coverage of deadly prison riots in June and July, news reports said.

Venezuelan weekly reopens, executives still charged

August 30, 2011 4:09 PM EDT

New York, August 30, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by ongoing criminal cases against two executives from the Venezuelan newspaper 6to Poder, but welcomes a judge’s decision to allow the weekly to resume publishing. The paper’s owner and a top executive were charged last week with inciting hatred, insulting a public official, and…

Venezuelan newspaper shut, executives charged

August 24, 2011 5:17 PM EDT

New York, August 24, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the closure of the Venezuelan newspaper 6to Poder after a judge ruled on Monday that the weekly cease distribution. The newspaper’s owner and a top executive were charged with incitement to hatred, insulting a public official, and publicly denigrating women after the paper published a…

Latin America democracy violated by killings

May 31, 2011 1:54 PM EDT

Lately, we have come to expect violence against journalists in certain regions, such as the Middle East. But here at CPJ, 2011 has also been troubling for the number of journalists killed in an entirely different part of the world, the Americas.

Newspaper columnist shot to death in Venezuela

May 20, 2011 1:23 PM EDT

New York, May 20, 2011–Wilfred Iván Ojeda, a Venezuelan newspaper columnist and politician, was shot to death on Tuesday in the city of La Victoria, Aragua state, according to press reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists urged authorities today to fully investigate the murder and bring all those responsible to justice.

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez holds up a free expression prize from Argentina's University of La Plata in La Plata. (AP/Jorge Araujo)

Hugo Chávez, free expression prize winner

April 1, 2011 3:18 PM EDT

Just as the awardee himself anticipated (in his subconscious, after all, he is no idiot), this “freedom of expression award” stirred up disapproval and indignation across the board. Notwithstanding, no one should question the decision of Argentina’s University of La Plata. If anyone has freedom of expression in Venezuela, it’s the prize-winner: He talks and…

Attacks on the Press 2010: Americas Analysis

February 15, 2011 12:54 AM EST

In Latin America, A Return of Censorship By Carlos Lauría As the preeminent political family in the northeastern state of Maranhão for more than 40 years, the Sarneys are used to getting their way in Brazilian civic life. So when the leading national daily O Estado de S. Paulo published allegations in June 2009 that linked José…

Attacks on the Press 2010: Venezuela

February 15, 2011 12:05 AM EST

Top Developments • Censorship spikes: RCTV banished again, newspapers barred from using crime images. • New laws restrict Internet content, tighten control over broadcast licenses. Key Statistic 1,300: Hours of presidential speeches that were aired between 1999 and 2010. Using all the tools of power, President Hugo Chávez Frías continued his aggressive campaign to silence…

In Caracas, people pass by a mural of Chávez. (AP/Ariana Cubillos)

Is Chávez promoting free expression? Check the facts

February 14, 2011 2:51 PM EST

Venezuelan Information Minister Andrés Izarra declared on the state television channel VTV last week that “never has so much been done to guarantee, promote, and drive freedom of expression than in the government of President Hugo Chávez.” Izarra needs to hire a fact-checker.