Journalists Face Escalation of Violence

By Humberto Márquez, IPS News. Posted January 23, 2009.

Ceferino García, accused by Marcano of heading a drug gang known as the "Cartel del Sol," was prosecuted for planning the journalist's murder. He was alleged to have paid 40,000 dollars to hired killers. Recusals of judges, lawyers and jurors led to his acquittal on the grounds of insufficient evidence in August 2008.

Rangel, who by then had left the government, said the acquittal was "Marcano's second death."

With these recent deaths "the journalistic profession is in mourning. These killings are added to dozens of attempted murders and attacks on freedom of expression in the last few months. They want to trample on our profession, but we will not allow this to happen and we will not be silenced," the head of the National Association of Journalists, William Echeverría, told IPS.

"Unfortunately, the violent discourse broadcast on radio and television creates a sort of cascade effect," said Echeverría, referring to the impassioned speeches, constantly calling for confrontations between political adversaries, delivered over the last decade by Chávez, who has been president since 1999.

This January "has been a dire month for freedom of expression in Venezuela," Gregorio Salazar, the secretary general of the SNTP and director of the Latin America office of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), told IPS.

"Two reporters have been murdered, another survived an attempt on his life, and a string of criminal attacks and serious violations of press freedom have been committed, including the decision by Congress to deny access to parliament," said Salazar, referring to restrictions imposed on access by reporters from private media outlets.

The non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says it was "dismayed" by the fatal shooting of Sambrano and the attempt on Finol's life. "These two shooting attacks in the space of three days raise grave concerns about the safety of journalists," an RSF statement said.

"Sambrano may have been the victim of a reprisal for his recent coverage of a drug story. He had recently covered several drug trafficking cases including one involving the Makled family, an influential business family in the region," RSF said.

"Brothers Abdala, Alex and Basel Makled were arrested in possession of around 400 kilos of cocaine during a search of a family property on 14 November and are now the subject of an investigation by the national prosecutor’s office," the Paris-based organization said.

The IFJ and the Federation of Latin American and Caribbean Journalists (FEPALC) also expressed "deep concern about the spiraling violence against media in Venezuela," recalled Sambrano's reports on the Makled family, and demanded an immediate, independent investigation to identify the culprits and bring them to justice.

FEPALC, in a document signed by its president Celso Schroeder, of Brazil, and human rights secretary Zuliana Lainez, of Peru, asked its affiliated organizations to make their views known to Venezuelan embassies in the region, and to "demand that the Venezuelan state fulfill its duty to guarantee freedom of expression."

The chief of Venezuela’s judicial police, Wilmer Flores, and 30 detectives from the force’s Caracas headquarters have gone to Valencia to investigate Sambrano's murder.

"We are making comparisons and gathering evidence in this and other cases, to determine different lines of investigation. We are at a preliminary stage and are keeping an open mind on all possible theories," Flores said.

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