Hey Maduro: Asking questions and building sources does not make a person a spy!

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered American film maker Timothy Tracer arrested for espionage and promoting unrest in the country. (Venezuela’s president orders arrest of American filmmaker)

Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez said they had evidence Tracy was promoting dissent and unrest in Venezuela. According to Rodriguez proof was in “the way he acted.” Rodriguez said it was clear Tracey was a spy because “he knows how to infiltrate, how to recruit sources.”

Well, gee, isn’t that what all journalists and documentary filmmakers are supposed to do?

Seeing how the official media from China, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela are indeed agents of the security (spy) agencies one can understand how dictators could have a hard time understanding this “independent journalism” thing.

When I lived in China I saw how the government acted as if Western media outlets were part of the Western intelligence services.

In the 1990′s Western media were anxious to have bureaus in Shanghai.  Beijing allocated permission for foreign correspondents to be based in Shanghai based on the media outlet’s country of origin. So that meant if the Associated Press got permission to have a bureau in Shanghai, the New York Times would have to wait until requests from news organizations from other countries were filled one by one.

A Shanghai government official explained that it was the only fair way to make sure that each country was represented by its official media. (Again, missing the point that there is no “official” media in the United States or most of Europe.)

Then, in Iran western journalists are required to be accompanied by “handlers” while also being followed by the secret police.

Do I really need to say anything about North Korea. ‘Nuff said!

And now Maduro confirms that Venezuela has joined this happy band of dictators by equating anyone who asks questions or build sources of information with spies. And they will stretch anything to make their point.

The minister then showed a video, “so the people in the country can see what we are confronting.”

But in the video, purportedly shot by Tracy, young people joke and mug for the camera in a drab room. It is unclear how the video points to a destabilization plan. Nor does it explain Tracy’s role.

I guess mugging for the camera is something that only Maduro and his Chavistas can do.

One thing about the story in the Post…

While it points out the arrest and the accusations of Maduro that the opposition parties are in league with the United States, it does little to discuss the overarching issue that the arrest of Tracy exemplifies: The repression of free media.

Too many apologists for Chavez/Maduro have pointed to private-sector media being used to undermine the government. What these apologists fail to understand — or refuse to accept — is that government control of the media only means that unrest and instability are more likely.

Without independent and competing news organizations — i.e. government-controlled media — the people have no way of getting accurate information. The people pick up on how the media are being used for propaganda purposes pretty quickly and begin to ignore or disbelieve anything in the media.

There is nothing to check corrupt and/or inept leaders. So corruption runs rampant and inept officials get a free pass to keep causing problems because there is no method to peacefully correct the situation.

The only means of transferring information, then becomes word of mouth. (I think I hear someone saying: “Let’s play telephone!”)

When word of mouth — aka – rumors — become the norm for information transfer, societies become more unstable. Unrest grows and dissatisfaction with the ruling elite grows.

You see it in China by the increasing number of people who rely on text messages to get accurate info and in the number of reporters and editors who are constantly pushing against the censors.

We see it in the unrest in Argentina where the government arrests people for publishing the actual numbers related to inflation and national debt.

And we see it in Venezuela where the leadership is so nervous about their precarious position that they arrest an independent film maker for doing what independent film makers do, develop sources, ask questions and present the situation.

CPJ Report on Venezuela Media Situation

Back in August, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a report on the state of media in Venezuela.

And it is not a pleasant report, at least for those who believe in free and independent media.

Venezuela’s private media wither under Chávez assault

It seemed like a routine story. In March, José Gregorio Briceño, governor of Venezuela’s southern state of Monagas, appeared on national television and complained that federal officials were not addressing claims of contaminated water in his state. An oil pipeline managed by the state-run oil company PDVSA had recently burst in the Guarapiche River, which runs through Monagas. News accounts followed with testimonies from independent experts and families with ill children.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Frías vowed to act—not to investigate potential water contamination, but to counter the “media terrorism” threatening the country. Federal officials complained of political manipulation and a media conspiracy in an election year; Chávez is up for a third six-year term in October. Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz announced a new federal injunction requiring journalists to base reports on water quality on a “truthful technical report backed by a competent institution.” Otherwise, journalists risked “destabilizing” public order, and could incur fines or jail time.

Rest of report.

Chavez moves to silence independent media in favor of government propaganda.

The gradual dismantling of Venezuela’s more critical and independent press and the building up of a vast state-run media empire is a remarkable reversal of the media landscape prior to Chávez’s rule. Then, major newspapers and television and radio stations were dominated by a private-sector, business-oriented elite determined to shield its audience from leftist and socialist views. When critics accuse Chávez of a media power grab, his loyalists counter that the government effectively democratized the press by wresting control from a powerful oligarchy with its own agenda.

And restrictive laws are enacted to make it all “legal.”

Regulatory obstacles also play a role. In 2009, the telecommunications regulator Conatel, whose members can be freely appointed or removed by Chávez, shut down and seized equipment at more than 30 radio stations, with reasons ranging from administrative technicalities to broadcasts about illegal squatters in the face of a housing shortage. Officials said more stations were on their watch list, but did not specify which ones. “The messenger is punished whether or not the information is true,” said Andrés Cañizalez, a professor and media expert at Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas. “It’s tough to prove at times. A radio presenter is suddenly off the air, or a station closes, and you later learn that the government had pulled its advertising.”

Only friendly journalists are informed of government releases and press coferences. If an independent journalist hears about such and event and attends it, the government poskesman or official either ignores or ridicules the reporter.

Amira Muci, an opinion show host on Radio Victoria in Maracay and the secretary-general of the local branch of the Colegio Nacional de Periodistas, said disrespectful treatment is the norm. “When your questions are uncomfortable or when they don’t have answers, they try to embarrass the reporter,” Muci said. “Or they say you are disrupting the revolutionary process. So many journalists give up and become, in effect, government stenographers. They think it is the only way to survive.”

With the Venezuelan elections taking place this weekend (Oct. 7), supporters of the opposition party have a right to feel depressed and downhearted. The efforts to shut down any discussion of the issues other than the words of the government makes the opposition campaign that much harder.

Still, they are hopeful: ‘Rock star’ challenger troubles Chávez

Chavez steps up campaign against free press

Human Rights Watch issued a new report that highlights the abuse of power by the Venezuelan president President Hugo Chavez during the past four years.

BBC: Human Rights Watch attacks ‘abuse of power’ in Venezuela

HRW: Tightening the Grip

This is hardly news to anyone paying attention to what has been going on in Venezuela.

Chavez has pushed legislation through his rubber-stamp parliament that limits free speech and gives the government free reign to censor and intimidate critics.

• Freedom House rates Venezuela’s Internet as Partly Free and its media as Not Free.
• The Committee to Protect Journalists notes that Venezuelan media is being forced to be nothing but a propaganda tool for the government.
• Reporters Without Borders has a long list of infractions by the Chavez government against free and independent media.

And in case anyone is wondering why paying attention to basic liberties or the general political situation in Venezuela is important, about 6% of the oil the U.S. imports comes from Venezuela.

As elections loom, Venezuelan journalists face threats

Journalists looking to cover the October Venezuelan elections in a fair manner face all sorts of hurdles. Not the least of which are the laws and regulations set up by the Chavez government to silence criticism.

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers presented the concerns of the few remaining independent news outlets in Venezuela.

[A]s elections approach, many in Venezuela fear the grip might tighten yet further. “Attacks against journalists peak during election years,” explained Marianela Balbi, executive director of Press and Society Institute of Venezuela (IPYS), a local media watchdog. “This election is the most important one since Chavez’ arrival to power, and therefore we fear the highest peak ever recorded”.

The increasing electoral tension is already translating into an increase in attacks against the media. A team of journalists from daily newspaper El Universal received an anonymous threat on 1 June demanding they stop investigating conditions in Venezuelan prisons. Their reporting was initiated by a two-week-long riot in April by prisoners in La Planta jail in Caracas, which resulted in the death of nine people. Journalists María Isoliett Iglesias, Deivis Ramírez, Tomás Ramírez González and Luis García filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office demanding protection, which was granted by the Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office.

Read the full report: Violence and self-censorship risk undermining media’s role ahead of historic Venezuelan election

No one said dictators were stupid, just brutal

Fareed Zakaria brought to the forefront the real issue in dealing with dictatorships. (How dictators have evolved with the times)

It is just not possible anymore for the bosses in China or Iran or Cuba to pull off a good old fashion purge by killing hundreds or thousands of people. Too many people have access to mobile phones and the Internet.

So the dictators need to be more subtle. Instead of constant crack downs, the repression is focused.

Zakaria explains it best:

Consider China. There’s a new study out this week by three political scientists at Harvard. They’ve devised a way to analyze millions of social media posts in China. What’s special is that they claim to do this before the Chinese government gets to censor them – so it provides a unique insight not just into what the Chinese people think, but also what the government deems necessary to censor.

What do they find? Contrary to what you’d think, it turns out criticisms of the state are not more likely to get censored. Even vitriolic criticisms are allowed. Instead, the focus is on stopping mass mobilization. Last year Beijing blocked internet searches for Tunisia’s “Jasmine Revolution” to prevent discussions about the Arab Spring. Similarly last week searches for the numbers 4/6 were censored – the numbers represented June 4th, the anniversary of the massacre at Tiananmen Square.

But for anyone following what the leadership in Beijing has done for the past few years, this is no surprise. It is nice to have it put in context.

Other ways, of course, are to follow the path of Hugo Chavez Venezuela. His government enacts laws that make it a crime to criticize the government in the media. And, at the same time, he sends out party loyalists to threaten and vandalize the independent media that is left.

Like I said: Just because they are dictators doesn’t mean they are stupid.