The US Secretary of State Antony Blinkenaccused this Tuesday the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela of criminalizing journalism, and assured that his country invests to protect press freedom on the continent.
(Also read: This will be the forum parallel to the Summit of the Americas led by Cuba)
“In Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, the simple act of doing independent journalism is a crime“, he asserted during a dialogue on the occasion of the Summit of the Americas, which is being held this week in Los Angeles (United States).
Precisely, the United States, host of the event, has not invited the Cuban, Venezuelan or Nicaraguan authorities to the summit, considering that they do not respect democracy.
The exclusion of these three countries has provoked the protest of some leaders of the region, such as Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who canceled his attendance.
Blinken gave the examples of Nicaraguan journalists and opponents Miguel Mora and Miguel Mendoza, who “are unjustly imprisoned” and were sentenced under “abusive legislation.”
He also denounced that independent journalists in Cuba “are subject to systematic abuse”including house arrest for weeks.
Murder of journalists: a regional problem
In Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, the simple act of doing independent journalism is a crime
The head of the US Foreign Ministry lamented that at least 16 journalists have been murdered in America in 2022, and cited the cases of the Mexicans Yesenia Molliendo and Sheila Johana Garcíamurdered in Veracruz in May.
“There is no other region in the world more dangerous for journalists,” said Blinken, who criticized the fact that in many countries the message is given that “these crimes can be committed with impunity.”
(It may interest you: The Summit of the Americas begins without Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua)
In addition, he criticized that there are governments that promote “laws that annul freedom of expression,” and cited the exceptional regime decreed in El Salvador, whose president, Nayib Bukele, has not attended the hemispheric meeting either.
Given this, Blinken assured that the United States “works throughout the entire region to strengthen the rule of law“, training judges and prosecutors on crimes against journalists.
In addition, he indicated that the United States Agency for Development (Usaid) will invest 9 million dollars for a global defense fund for journalists and the media.
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