Human Rights Watch (HRW) director for the Americas, José Miguel Vivanco, accused Peru’s President Pedro Castillo on Wednesday of undermining freedom of expression in the country after the head of government threatened to withdraw state advertising of some communication vehicles.
“The arbitrary use of public resources to reward government sycophants and punish critics reduces freedom of expression,” the NGO leader said in a Twitter post.
Vivanco added that the practice used by Castillo is already known in Latin America, “by threatening to withdraw official publicity from media that do not like it”.
Yesterday, the Peruvian president criticized several Peruvian media outlets for spreading images of his recent trip to the city of Arequipa, in the south of the country, where it was possible to see people calling him names and calling for his impeachment.
“I must condemn some nefarious attitudes of some media, who edited that I was alone, which is not right,” Castillo said on Tuesday.
The president also said that these communication vehicles ask that “instead of giving water to the population, a budget be given so that they speak well about the government.”
“I will not allow a penny to be given to those who distort reality,” Castillo said.
Last week, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Eduardo González, announced that he would only serve journalists from vehicles that would not cause him any problems.
The tension between Castillo and the press in Peru started during the electoral campaign, in which the now president claimed to have been classified as a “terrorist” for having led one of the country’s main unions, which has alleged links with the political arm of the Shining Path group, which he denies.
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