On Thursday, agents from Venezuela's military intelligence agency arrested Guillermo Zuloaga, the owner of the independent television network Globovision. He is also one of President Hugo Chavez's most influential critics. The Attorney General said he was arrested in connection with comments he made this month at the Inter American Press Association Meeting that were considered false and "offensive" to Chavez. Mr. Zuloaga criticized methods used by the Chavez government to shut down news outlets and was quoted as saying the country lacked freedom of expression (in the ultimate irony, he was arrested for saying the country lacked freedom of expression). Mr. Zuloaga was released several hours after being arrested and was told not to leave the country while the investigation continued. International human rights groups and the Organization of American States had pressed for his release while he was being held. He could face prison terms of three to five months for comments considered offensive to the president, and three to five years for the charge of divulging false information.
There have been growing concerns about Venezuela's crackdowns on news organizations and political opponents. The government's approach to dealing with Chavez's critics has grown increasingly harsh. News outlets face sharp penalties if they are deemed to be inciting disorder. Chavez recently pulled a television network (RCTV) that was critical of him off the airwaves. President Chavez has been facing an increasing amount of public criticism as a result of the continuing electricity blackouts and the faltering economy. A leading rights lawyer said, "This is about the criminalization of opinion. It is an extremely grave matter."
Earlier this week, prior to Mr. Zuloaga's arrest, a high-profile opposition political figure, Oswaldo Alvarez Paz, was also arrested for making critical comments of the Chavez government. His comments were broadcast on Globovision. Mr. Paz had said that he supported claims by one of Spain's top judges that Venezuelan officials had helped ETA (the armed Basque separatist group) train with leftist Colombian guerillas. Mr. Paz also said that Venezuela has become a center for drug trafficking in South America (an assertion that has also been made by independent media investigations). Mr. Paz has been charged with conspiracy and spreading false information. (Full Story)
A prominent Chinese scholar (who is also a poet and film critic), Cui Weiping, was prohibited by her country from traveling to the U.S. for an academic visit. She was planning on giving a lecture at Harvard University and attending a conference for the Association for Asian Studies in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The director of her university told her this week that she had been forbidden to travel. Ms Cui said, "I was told I had classes to teach and that the lecture I was giving was not my specialty, but those were just excuses." [That seems crazy to be told you're not allowed to go to a conference or give a guest lecture because the lecture is not your specialty. Who are they to decide that? We take for granted how easily U.S. academics and students are able to travel to go to conferences and to present papers]. She said she was barred from leaving China as punishment for her commentary on human rights and free speech, and it's an attempt to put pressure on her.
She said "the authorities" have repeatedly rebuked her for posting social criticism on her blog, sponsoring a seminar on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, and twittering about the jailing of Liu Xiaobo (a writer who was convicted of subversion last year for demanding increased liberties in a widely circulated petition). Ms. Cui was punished previously for her writings by having academic officials cancel her guest lectures across China. In addition, during last year's 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, two carloads of police officers spent several days parked outside her apartment. "Until now, I didn't want to talk about these incidents, but now that they are limiting my academic freedom, I have to speak out," she said. She added, "It really doesn't make sense to do this [to restrict her travel]. In fact, it's stupid. Everyone at the conference knows I've been forbidden from attending. This is just hurting China's national image." Checkmate.
This is not the first time Chinese officials have used travel restrictions to punish those who speak out against the government. Earlier this month, Liao Yiwu (a writer and critic of the government) was removed from his plane and prohibited from going to a German literary festival. Other scholars and writers, including Tsering Woeser (a Tibetan essayist), have repeatedly been denied a passport. (Full Story)
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