To do everything possible to identify those responsible for the campaign to intimidate journalists, during which mined USB sticks were sent to five journalists in Ecuador, the organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called, on March 22, the call was posted on the organization’s website.
When Lenin Artieda, a presenter for Ecuavisa TV in the port city of Guayaquil, returned from his paternity leave on March 20, he discovered a USB stick in one of the waiting letters, and when he plugged it into his computer, there was a small explosion. . causing superficial injuries to his hands and face.
Similar emails containing booby-trapped USB drives were sent to four other journalists working for TC Televisión in Guayaquil and Teleamazonas and Radio EXA in Quito. All of these national television channels tend to support the conservative government of President Guillermo Lasso.
“Everything seems to indicate that this was a planned and coordinated attack to undermine the work of the national media and instill fear in newsrooms in general.”said Arthur Romeu, director of RSF’s Latin American office. — “This reinforces the environment of insecurity and self-censorship that is becoming part of the lives of journalists in Ecuador. We call on the authorities to carry out a thorough investigation to shed light on this targeting of journalists.”.
The head of the Criminal Police, Xavier Changó, said that the substance found in five USB sticks was an explosive used in the mining industry. The five envelopes were sent from Kimsaloma, an area halfway between Quito and Guayaquil. Police are looking for a sender who left a name and phone number with the delivery service.
The journalists mentioned, meanwhile, continue working “as always,” said Miguel Rivadeneira, a journalist for Radio EXA in Quito. He added: “I am not receiving any special protection, but now I am taking precautions. For example, I often change my route now when I go to work.”.
Its precautionary measures reflect the general decline in the safety of journalists in Ecuador. This is especially the case in port regions like Guayaquil, the epicenter of rising violence linked to increasingly powerful drug cartels.
Earlier, two men on a motorcycle fired a series of shots while passing the entrance of the RTS TV channel in Guayaquil in October 2022. In 2020, a stick of dynamite was detonated near the Teleamazonas television channel in the same city.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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