MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY

In Latin America, A Struggle Against Laws, Repression

Three steps forward, and two steps back. That's the progress of the free
press in our hemisphere. In Peru, the end of the Fujimori government also
freed Peruvian media to report without fear of state retaliation. Yet the
disturbing murders of journalists remain unsolved in Colombia, relentless
persecution of independent journalists continues in Cuba and repressive
laws shackle the media even in democracies such as Chile.

Colombia claims a category of horror all its own. Since 1977, some 139
journalists have been murdered -- most of them victims of narco
traffickers, guerrillas or paramilitaries -- with no one convicted in 90
percent of these cases. In November and December alone, assassins took the
lives of three radio journalists.

Independent, thus outlawed, journalists remain the target of Cuba's
repressive regime. Besides frequent short-term detentions, tactics now
include arresting a dissident journalist and abandoning him in a remote
area 50 or 100 miles away. Even foreign correspondents have provoked the
regime's wrath -- most recently Pascual Fletcher of the Financial Times was
harangued because of a dispatch about the Spanish Embassy's Three Kings Day
celebration in Havana.

Antiquated gag laws, too, are applied in far too many countries. Under
Chile's criminal ``insult laws,'' which shield public officials from fair
scrutiny, a warrant was issued for the arrest of respected journalist
Alejandra Matus, now with El Nuevo Herald. In Venezuela, attorney Pablo
Aure, arrested for writing an ``offensive'' letter to the editor, now faces
military prosecution and possibly five years in jail.

Fortunately, the region has invaluable media watchdogs, among them the
Inter American Press Association, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the
Organization of American States's Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
and its Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Santiago Canton.
Particularly significant last year was the Declaration of Principles on
Freedom of Expression approved by the human-rights commission.

Peru's independent press, which played a role exposing Fujimori government
corruption, shows how vital media are to democratic society. That's why at
the Summit of Americas in April, member states should offer strong support
for the freedom-of-expression declaration and the OAS rapporteur.