27 April 2005
Media Restrictions Increasing in Andean Countries
Restrictions on media freedom are increasing in South America's Andean region, especially in the conflict-ridden countries of Colombia and Venezuela, according to a coalition of watchdogs that monitors governments' commitments to democratic reform in the Americas.
Political conflicts have led to greater attacks on journalists and citizens, with Colombia considered one of the most dangerous countries in the region for media, says Participa Corporation, coordinator of a report that assesses governments' progress in honouring commitments to media freedom that were made at the Organization for American States' Summit of the Americas in 2001.
Covering Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Venezuela, the report also highlights the prevalence of "desacato" or insult laws and the absence of laws limiting media concentration as ongoing threats to free expression. It is published by the Civic Participation Project for the Summits of the Americas.
The report is available in Spanish here: http://www.sociedadcivil.org/documentos/Informe%20Hemisferico.pdf
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