The Madrid Press Association (APM) condemned this Saturday the expulsion from Venezuela of journalist and director of the online newspaper The Objective, Alvaro Nieto, and considered that the position of the Venezuelan authorities demonstrates “lack of respect for freedom of the press.”
Journalist Alvaro Nieto, director of the Madrid-based online newspaper The Objective, was expelled from Venezuela, where he had traveled to report, following protests following the publication of the results of the July 28 presidential election by the National Electoral Council (CNE), with incumbent President Nicolás Maduro winning, while the opposition won the majority of the votes.
APM said in a statement that with this expulsion, which joins the expulsion of other media professionals, the Venezuelan regime is “trying to prevent journalists from covering the situation in the country after Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner,” while refusing to “provide the election results” demanded by “numerous countries and international organizations.”
According to APM, upon arrival in Caracas, Alvaro Nieto “was subjected to a two-hour police interrogation” by Venezuelan authorities and was then repatriated on a flight to Madrid.
The APM guaranteed, citing the journalist himself, that he was not allowed to speak to the Spanish embassy while he was in custody in Caracas.
In a statement released today, APM called on the Venezuelan government to respect the freedom of expression of national and foreign journalists and asked the Spanish executive to take appropriate measures with the Venezuelan authorities to demand that this right be respected.
According to APM, at least fifteen journalists from several countries who were considered critical of the Caracas government have been expelled from Venezuela in recent days.
On the 30th, the civil society organization Instituto de Imprensa e Sociedade (IPYS Venezuela) had already registered 32 cases of press freedom violations during Sunday’s presidential elections.
Chile’s National Television joined other media outlets on Friday in condemning the detention of a group consisting of a journalist and an image cameraman after both arrived in Venezuela to cover local news.
On July 29, the CNE declared Nicolás Maduro the winner of the presidential elections held the day before, with 51.2% of the vote.
In turn, the opposition majority bloc published the results on its internet portal, which allegedly brought a convincing victory to its candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who enjoys the support of opposition leader María Corina Machado, who is not allowed to participate in the elections by the Chavista regime.
In a letter published this week in the Wall Street Journal, Machado condemned Maduro’s “brutal crackdown” on protests that followed the results, and counted 20 deaths, 1,000 detentions and 11 disappearances caused by state security forces.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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