A Venezuelan juvenile court has slapped a fine against an opposition daily for publishing a tongue-in-cheek newspaper editorial based on a dialogue between President Hugo Chávez and his 9-year-old daughter.
Tal Cual carried an open letter on November 25, 2005, addressed to Rosinés, aged nine, the youngest daughter of President Hugo Chávez in which the writer, comedian Laureano Márquez, asked her to get her father to listen to reason so that he would more tolerant of the opposition.
Judge Holanda Dam at the juvenile court of Lara state, west of Caracas, ruled on February 13 that the article damaged “the honour, reputation, image, and private life of Rosinés Chávez RodrÃguezâ€, in violation of Article 65 of the Organic Law for the Protection of the Child and Adolescent (Lopna). The daily was fined $18,600 (about 14,000 euros). The fine against the comedian has not yet fixed.
Márquez defended himself by stressing that the letter was an exercise in comic style and that President Chávez had himself publicly said – including during his weekly TV programme “Alo Presidente†– that he consulted his daughter on some decisions. It was on this basis that the head of state reportedly altered the coat of arms on the national flag.
Representatives of the National Council for the Protection of Children and Adolescents urged prosecutors to file charges against Marquez and the publisher, Mosca Analfabeta, justifying the measures as necessary to shield a child from politics-related slander. The council did not ask that Marquez also be prosecuted on criminal charges. “They saw there was a violation of the girl’s rights, so they took measures,’’ said Antonio Ramos, who heads the council in central Lara state, where Rosines lives.
“A desire to fill the media (and) comedians with fear is what’s behind this,’’ Marquez said at a news conference as Teodoro Petkoff, the director of Tal Cual, held up the newspaper’s Wednesday edition with a banner headline reading: "They won’t shut us up,†according to the Associated Press (AP).
“We feel the need for this to be everybody’s battle; that’s why we have asked for collaboration for the defense of freedom of expression,’’ said Petkoff, a former leftist guerrilla who has become one of Chávez’s most outspoken critics
“Laureano Márquez’s open letter which appeared in Tal Cual did not contain any insulting or offensive remarks about the daughter of President Hugo Chávez,†said Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). “Nothing in the article justifies the conviction, moreover very delayed, against Tal Cual. There was no offence,†it said.
The worldwide press freedom organisation added that it was unacceptable that the daily’s decision to appeal had not brought a suspension of the fine. “It gives us every reason to fear that this sanction is just political score-settling,†it said.
Editor of Tal Cual, Javier Conde, told RSF the paper could not pay the fine and it has appealed for contributions. It has only one week to pay, failing which it will be increased by 12 per cent. Since the fact it is appealing will not get the fine temporarily lifted, the daily will have to pay up and will only be refunded if it wins its appeal before a higher court.
Tal Cual was founded in 2000 and is managed by Teodoro Petkoff. It is in clear opposition to the Chávez government. Petkoff was personally involved in the electoral campaign team of Manuel Rosales, an opponent of Chávez at the December 3, 2006 presidential poll. The paper said it believed the legal decision to amount to a “political reprisalâ€. Chávez, a former paratrooper who accuses Venezuela’s privately-owned media of conspiring to topple his government, denies restricting press freedoms.
