Press Censorship

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Shoot the Messenger

“[T]he beginning of 2012 finds much of Latin America suffering the worst wave of press censorship since the rightist military dictatorships of the 1970s. Like never before in recent history, elected presidents who already control their congresses and judicial systems are trying to silence independent media. If they succeed, as they seem to be doing, they will have a de facto license to steal — both money and elections — without any effective legislative or media scrutiny. . . .”

“At the Washington-based 34-country Organization of American States, several countries led by Ecuador approved a proposal Dec. 13 that in effect could kill or severely weaken the OAS Office of the Special Rapporteur of Freedom of Expression, which often denounces member countries’ abuses against freedom of the press. The proposal is scheduled to be submitted to a vote on Jan. 25.

“Commenting on these and other recent measures against independent media, the Inter-American Press Association said in a year-end statement that 2011 has been ‘one of the most challenging and tragic ones’ for press freedoms in the region. Self-censorship is becoming an increasingly normal practice, it said.”

—Andres Oppenheimer, Latin American correspondent,
“Press censorship on the rise in Latin America,” The Miami Herald, Jan. 8, 2012
(Thanks to alert WORDster Dan Kubiske)

• Editorial Comment: Old habits die hard.

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