The NGO Espacio Público highlighted that in 2022 the Venezuelan State ordered the closure of at least 80 radio stations nationwide, making it the year in which there were more radio stations closed in the last two decades.
civil association Public space shared a report detailing that they accounted for a total of 470 violations of freedom of expression in Venezuela during 2022.
The non-profit organization indicated that the restrictions to seek, receive and disseminate information continue to be a pattern present for the Maduro administration, in addition, the opacity of information “in the midst of the complex humanitarian crisis constitutes one more obstacle in a context where fundamental rights are not guaranteed.”
“In 2022 227 cases were registeredwhich represents a 7% decrease compared to the number of cases registered in 2021, being the year with the fewest cases since 2013, when 220 situations were registered”, they added.
Espacio Público highlights that this decrease in cases could be linked to the stagnation of the political agenda and the demobilization of the parties opposed to the national government, since in previous years there was a correspondence between political repression and high rates of freedom of expression violations In Venezuela.
Since April, the registration of cases experienced a progressive rise, which reached its highest point in the months of September (30) and October (46), mainly motivated by the massive closure of radio stations in various states of the country.
«470 complaints of violations of freedom were registered of expression in 2022. This figure did not represent a significant variation with respect to what was documented the previous year,” the report highlights.
*Read also: Public Space: in 2022 the largest closure of radio stations in Venezuela was registered
“Censorship complaints ranked first in the registry, totaling at least 199 incidents, which is equivalent to 43% of all violations. These violations were mainly recorded through the closure of radio stations and during power outages or failures in the Internet service, which limited access to information by the population, as well as the work of the media when disseminating information. information,” they said.
The non-governmental association highlighted that between 2003 and 2022, the closure of at least 284 radio stations nationwide was documented, which is equivalent to the 71% of the total media closed in said period. In 2022, the Venezuelan State ordered the closure of at least 80 stations nationwide, which places 2022 as the year with the most closed radio stations in the last two decades.
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