The Latest Battle over Freedom of the Press in Venezuela

 
Once again, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is taking on the press. This time, the controversy involves a letter to the editor printed in the newspaper La Nación on January 3, 2001. The letter, entitled "Generals in Panties," was signed by Pablo Aure, a Venezuelan attorney and professor. Aure complained of what he called the "servile" attitude of the leaders of Venezuela's armed forces whenever their commander in chief (Chávez) chooses to drop by and make a speech. In a play on words in Spanish, he argued that the country's generals "parecían más castrados que castrenses" ("seemed more emasculated than military in their bearing").

After the letter was published, Aure was arrested and brought before a military court on charges of "defamation of the armed forces." A military prosecutor requested that he be sentenced to three to five years in jail. Thanks to an international media outcry, Aure was released for the time being, but the charges have not been dismissed.

This is not the first time that Chávez has clashed with the press. Other cases denounced by the Inter-American Press Association include that of Teodoro Petkoff, who was dismissed from his position as publisher of El Mundo for his open opposition to the president. What makes this case different is the involvement of a military court in prosecuting a civilian for expressing an opinion against the leaders of the armed forces. In interviews with the newspaper El Universal, Venezuela's defense minister, General Ismael Hurtado, responded to the criticism by suggesting that the case against Aure goes beyond his letter to the editor. Aure, he alleged, could be linked to a campaign to destabilize the armed forces and provoke a coup against the Chávez government.

Attorney General Isaías Rodríguez told El Universal that he will do everything he can to transfer Aure's case to the civilian justice system. "The Supreme Court will decide who has jurisdiction, but we have no doubt who that is," he said. "If a crime was committed, it should be heard under civilian jurisdiction. The public prosecutor's office is going to insist on this with all the legal actions at its disposal to set a precedent that goes beyond this one case. Military jurisdiction is for special circumstances and cannot be used to intervene for establishing judicial mechanisms, thereby violating due process and the rights of citizens."

For Pablo Aure, it is not just his freedom that is on the line, but democracy itself. "We cannot allow ourselves to become servile to the regime," he affirmed. "When something doesn't seem right, we have to speak out, within the framework of democracy."