IPYS said that figures on health, education, economy, state security and management “remain hidden or fragmented, which limits citizen participation and democratic control”
The Press and Society Institute (IPYS) of Venezuela warned this Sunday, International Day of Universal Access to Information, that the “right to know remains in debt” in the country, where – citizens “continue without counting on legal mechanisms or effective guarantees that ensure access to public data of collective interest.”
In a note, the non -governmental organization said that “structural opacity, systematic censorship and misinformation promoted from power keep citizens without real guarantees of access to reliable public data.”
He pointed out that figures on health, education, economy, security and state management “remain hidden or fragmented, which limits citizen participation and democratic control.”
The Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), for example, does not publish data on inflation since October 2024.
To this “lack of transparency,” the NGO continued, it adds the one it calls as “deliberate suffocation against the media and journalists.”
In that sense, he indicated that there are “61 independent media blocked on the Internet, more than 90 affected domains and restrictions on platforms such as X, YouTube, Tiktok, Signal and Telegram.”
In addition, 15 journalists and press workers are “prisoners, of which in seven cases there is no official information about their whereabouts or on the processes against them.”
Ipys also warned of a “daily harassment against the press,” through, he said, of the “destruction and confiscation of equipment, threats, intimidation and intimidating surveillance.”
According to the organization, more than seven million people in the country “live in news deserts, that is, in municipalities where there are no active local media or the offer is so limited that it does not meet the information needs of the population.”
“On this International Day of Universal Access to Information, we reiterate that without public data, without free means and without guarantees for journalism, citizen law is structurally violated,” he said.
Therefore, Ipys demanded that the Venezuelan state “fulfill its international obligations and guarantee transparency, pluralism and freedom of expression.”
This Sunday, Nicolás Maduro recalled that access to information is “a fundamental human right established to ensure that every person can seek and disseminate information, especially that in the possession of public entities.”
“Access to the truth and official data is the main tool of citizens to actively participate in public life, make informed decisions about their health, education and environment, and control the actions of their governments,” said Venezuela’s head and technology, Gabriela Jiménez, on Telegram.
With information from the EFE agency
*Journalism in Venezuela is exercised in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments arranged for the punishment of the word, especially the laws “against hatred”, “against fascism” and “against blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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