Venezuela: Maduro stops Deutsche Welle channel from broadcasting for a report on corruption in the country

Freddy Sáenz, Minister of Communications and Information of the Venezuelan government, announced this Monday the expulsion of the German channel Deutsche Welle from all cable service companies in the country, accusing the television station of “disseminating content and promoting the propaganda of hatred.” Was accused. Nation. This measure has had an immediate impact. A few days ago, German state television had posted some content on social networks In which he collected information in the name of Transparency International, which described Venezuela as the second most corrupt country in the world.

“Venezuela is a mafia state,” says journalist Ernesto Fuenmayor in the report, which is just a two-minute video and has no journalistic development. youtuber Than a reporter. It points to the existence of the Cartel of the Sons, as “a criminal network of cocaine and gold trafficking”, structured by “high-ranking military personnel and influential politicians”, who trade with the needs of the population. A lot of money”, in a context in which justice is in favor of the government.

What is said in this report echoes and includes some of the allegations leveled against the Maduro government in recent years by some sectors of the Venezuelan opposition and some of the international community, such as OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro. The data is interspersed with persistent images of Maduro himself. “In addition to covering the massacre in Gaza, the DW account in Spanish is responsible for defaming Venezuela and spreading hatred against it. Their fraud is disgusting, but the poverty of their materials is also sad,” Áñez announced on her X account, in response to the report.

In his television program, Maduro later accused the television station of being “Nazis” while commenting on the decision taken by his office. “They and other international media are running a campaign against Venezuela, they want to show that everything is bad in the world, they want to smear me, attack the country. we must be careful.”

This is not the first time that the Venezuelan government has had irreconcilable differences over the dissemination of certain international news and editorial content. Stations such as CNN in Spanish, or the Colombian RCN and Caracol Radio, which generally criticize the actions of Chavismo, were also expelled from the country a few years ago.

“Without a free press, there is a dictatorship,” said a post posted by Venezuela’s National College of Journalists on its social networks in protest of this measure. “Censorship is another attack against freedom of expression.” In recent years, the Maduro government has been toughening its policy against autonomous or critical media: in a year like 2022 alone, 78 radio stations were closed down in the country. According to the NGO Espacio Público, a total of 285 were completed between 2003 and 2022.

This occurs in the context of the international shutdown of Chavismo. Authorities have detained opponents and activists in recent weeks, the most prominent of them security expert Rocío San Miguel. The government also flatly refused to accept the participation of the main opposition, María Corina Machado, in this year’s presidential elections, despite the fact that in the Barbados agreements Chavismo had shown its intention to hold free and democratic elections. The United States went so far as to lift sanctions on gold and oil, but Washington has been disappointed by the steps taken by Venezuela and has already said it will not renew these specific licenses. DW’s broadcast is just another step in that direction.

Follow all the information from El PAÍS America Facebook And xor in our weekly newspaper,