Dear Editor,
I refer to the article published on November 24 of your newspaper, on the remarks made by the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) that the proposed changes to the constitution of Venezuela “are major dangers to freedom of expression and private property”.
As a journalist, I am duty bound to defend – not only the “freedom” of the press, but also the freedom of the individual in society. It is a subject-matter that has always been very controversial in Guyana (during the Burnham dictatorship) and continues to be so to date.
Your newspaper has repeatedly complained – bitterly – about the attempt by the Jagdeo government to muzzle your newspaper by withdrawing government advertisements.
In this regard, you have secured the open support of the most prominent person in the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), former president Janet Jagan, and most freedom-loving people in Guyana and internationally.
I get the distinct impression that you try to compare press “freedom” in Venezuela with that of your own experience with the administration in Guyana.
It is well known that your newspaper is generally critical of the President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez and his government, since your publishers are opposed to the policies and programme of that government. In this regard, your newspaper would not be in a position to present an unbiased or objective view of press freedom in Venezuela.
The article I refer to in my letter is a typical example of the anti-Chavez line that you project.
There is a weekly, if not daily, anti-Chavez portrayal in the columns of your newspaper.
It would useful to remind the readers of your newspaper that the private television station RCTV referred to in your article, was directly involved in inciting the violent overthrow of the legitimately elected government of Venezuela in April 2002.
And following, the brief incarceration of President Chavez and some of his ministers, most of the private press and media in Venezuela openly promoted the coup leaders, who were not executed or tortured. In fact, the main leaders of the coup d’