Close to the tenth month of the new government, both the Executive chaired by peter castle and the Congress in charge of Maria del Carmen Alva have had one rocky relationship with journalism. Both powers of the State have collected clashes with journalists and even have warned of their position of power to silence criticism made from the media.
The journalistic exercise embodies a counterpower that every democracy must aspire to take care of. If this management boasts of being one, it should allow the punishment of the investigation, the consultation of the reporter and the immediate coverage of television.
At the moment, this does not seem to be the case. The National Association of Journalists of Peru (ANP) has issued two reports to date on the attacks on the freedom of the press in Peru. From August to December 2021 (the incumbent government had already started) there were 27 attacks on journalists by public officials or security agents (say police, military, serenazgo or vigilante). From January to April 2022 the ANP compiled 24 harassments. A sum of 51 since Pedro Castillo put on the sash and María del Carmen Alva was elected president of the Plenary.
YOU CAN SEE: Congress: ghost interpellation to Aníbal Torres and two other ministers
To exemplify the above, 11 events were compiled in which representatives of the Executive and Parliament, from the highest rank to members of security, attempt against journalistic work.
Executive threatens the press
Assault on Tiffany Tipiani
On the morning of August 18, 2021, the then TV Peru reporter Tifanny Tipiani carried out her work in the vicinity of the Plaza de Armas in Lima, near the Government Palace. Tipiani approached President Castillo and, in that, the president’s security agents pushed her with the desire to get her away from her. She complained about the fact and ran again, microphone in hand, towards the former rural school teacher, who seemed not to notice her presence. Hours later, the communication team of the Presidency apologized.
Dismissal of Karerina Bayona
Months before the head of the first cabinet, Guido Bellido, took office, the journalist Karerina Bayona interviewed him for the Ikavisión channel in Cusco. When the also congressman from Peru Libre assumed the leadership of the Council of Ministers, the owner of the channel, Walter Cervantes, admitted to being afraid of the consequences of that conversation, Bayona told the Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS). “I am afraid of my channel and my license, and that is why I have decided that the program will no longer go (…)”, the businessman told the journalist.
Publication by Karenina Bayona.
Castillo Terrones press team struggles with journalist Hellen Meniz
On September 15, 2021, the RPP Noticias journalist Hellen Meniz attended an activity by the president in the Comas district. When she tried to corner herself with the other reporters to get an exclusive from her, Franco Pomalaya, part of the president’s press team, tried to take the microphone from her. Meniz denounced the incident on Twitter and wrote: “Aggression. You can clearly see how Mr. Franco Pomalaya, from Pedro Castillo’s press team, is trying to take my microphone, my work tool, away from me.”
YOU CAN SEE: César Hildebrandt: “Congress does not want to leave because it aspires to complete its cancer agenda”
Castillo: “I am not going to allow myself to give a penny to those who distort reality, to those who do not want to see the people”
In November 2021 Castillo visited Huancavelica, Arequipa. During his stay, in which he had lunch with the rulers of the area, precisely on the 23rd of the penultimate month of last year, the head of state stated: “I must condemn some disastrous attitudes by some media outlets that have edited that he was alone (. ..) and that people asked for a vacancy when it is not true; and on top of that these media ask that, instead of giving water to the towns, we pay them, give them a budget so that they speak well of the Government”.
The issue of state advertising came to light since then with a warning from the president. What is contradictory is that, months later, in January 2022, when the journalist César Hildebrandt interviewed the president, a man from Castillo Terrones asked him if his weekly —which has been surviving for 12 years based on the contributions of readers— did not want publicity state.
Pedro Castillo: “This press is a joke”
On Monday, February 21, 2022, the press questioned Pedro Castillo about his contractions before the Public Ministry, regarding the alleged interference in the promotions of the Armed Forces —the reason why former prosecutor Avelino Guillén would later resign from the Interior portfolio. . From Lurín, the head of state described the reporters who consulted him as a “joke”, and focused: “We are talking about Peruvian education. Why not focus on the important issues. That is the problem that we want to change in Peruvian education, let’s talk about education, come with me to see the schools, to see how the malnourished children are, I am interested in the country”.
President apologizes to the press if he hurt any “sensitivity” but does not order the removal of the fence that separates him from the reporters
On February 23, 2022, the head of state presented the 450th soup kitchen in Ventanilla accompanied by one of his state ministers. When asked about the exercise of the press, Castillo responded before the cameras of TV Peru: “Our mind was focused on how we have to get the laptops… Some question arose that Peru knows that it is in a space of an investigation. I understand that the press has felt uncomfortable (…) If there is any situation in which part of the susceptibility of the press has been hurt, I apologize accordingly”.
However, two facts close to the fact deny the apology of Castillo Terrones. Only one day later, media reporters attended the closing of the forum “From the reactivation to the modernization of the Construction sector”. At the end of the event, State security personnel closed the door to prevent the press from entering. According to testimonies from reporters from La República, only journalists from RPP Noticias and TV Perú were allowed to pass. The rest were locked up. Only minutes later, after vociferous claims, the door was opened.
Almost a month later, on March 21, 2022, the media sent their reporters to cover the president’s visit to the initial educational institution 197 Niño Jesús de Prado, in San Juan de Lurigancho. While Castillo inspected the place, police officers formed a cordon to border the area where the president passed. Castillo Terrones recently declared when getting into his vehicle.
YOU CAN SEE: Pedro Castillo defended Aníbal Torres and rejected “spoiled attitudes” of congressmen
Congress cracks down on the press
Justice Commission of the Congress approves opinion that seeks the modification of the law of effective collaboration and attempts against the journalistic exercise
On January 24, 2022, María del Carmen Alva received, in her capacity as president of Congress, the opinion that seeks to amend the effective collaboration law, approved by the Justice Commission. Three years after Fuerza Popular tried to promulgate as a “very serious offense”, cause for sanction, that a prosecutor “shares, transmits, communicates, filters, delivers or in any other way makes reserved information from an investigation known to third parties. at your expense”, the table headed by Glady Echaíz (APP) approved a similar provision.
The opinion approved by the Justice Commission that criminalizes journalistic work says to the letter:
“Anyone who improperly reveals, provides, disseminates, supplies, grants or gives, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, the identity of an effective collaborator, witness, victim or protected expert, undercover or special agent, or the content of their statements, at any stage of the investigation or the process, shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than four nor more than six years. When the agent is a civil servant or public servant, and due to the exercise of his position, profession or trade, has access to the information contained in the preceding paragraph and performs the conduct provided for therein, the penalty shall be no less than five nor more than seven. years, and disqualification.
YOU CAN SEE: Zamir Villaverde wants to be a collaborator on Sarratea
María del Carmen Alva sends to persecute Hildebrandt’s photojournalist in his thirteen
On February 9, 2022, opposition congressmen gathered at the Casa Andina Premium hotel to malign vacant plans to the detriment of President Castillo. The reporter Eloy Marchán along with a photojournalist were close to the meeting.
It was then that Marchán, a journalist for Hildebrandt in his thirteenth, recorded the audio of Alva saying “(…) And Vértiz! I cannot believe that on Sunday I gave Vértiz (the scoop) before Fourth Power, I even fought because I went to channel 9 and it turns out that they are attacking me. Instead of saying ‘this is over’ and not putting anything. Well, the truth is very bad”.
When the president of Congress noticed the presence of a photographer on the street who was taking snapshots of a private event, she asked the security of the Miraflores center to go after the H13 reporter. “There’s a photographer over there! He took pictures of me! Look for him!” Alva yelled. These facts are recorded in the weekly edition No. 573.
Journalists demand that Congress stop obstructing their entry to Parliament facilities
On May 12, 2022, representatives of journalistic unions and journalists demanded at the door of Congress that they be allowed to enter for the coverage they carry out. Two years ago the restriction was accepted due to the pandemic, but at present it is still not authorized that parliamentary activities can be reported from the Legislative facilities.
After Maricarmen Alva yelled “do not misinform” the attending reporters, she said that they would review in the Board of Spokespersons if the journalists would be authorized to enter. A fact that is worrying because, according to the fourth article of the Political Constitution of Peru, every person has the right to freedom of information, dissemination and others, by any means of social communication, without prior authorization or censorship or any impediment; and journalism, for better or worse, acts as an amplifier of the events that take place.
