Any person who discloses information that is considered a "false" or "manipulated" and that would "harm the interests of the State" or "public morale", could spend up to four years behind bars. Article 5 of the draft for the Special Law Against Media Offenses, presented today to the National Assembly by prosecutor Luisa Ortega Díaz, states: "Any person who, through a medium of social communication, discloses false news causing serious disruption to public tranquility, panic or anxiety among the populace, disrupted public order, or damaged the interests of the state, shall be punished with imprisonment from two to four years." Ortega Díaz defines in the text the following as "media crimes": "The actions or omissions affecting the right to timely, truthful and impartial information, which attack social peace, security and independence of the nation, public order, stability of state institutions, mental health or morals, that generate a sensation of impunity or of insecurity and that are committed through a medium of communication."
The Venezuelan government accused Colombian authorities on Thursday of "hypocrisy" and "destroying" efforts to build a positive bilateral relationship, using a "war-mongering policy" that endangers regional peace. In a communiqué from the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs which the AFP received a copy of, the government of President Chávez furthermore warned that "each aggression of the Colombian government will be respond to with very firm actions." "The Colombian government does not explain how thousands of weapons in the hands of rebel groups circulate throughout their territory, but cynically demands Venezuela to explain the origin of three of them," says the text, indicating that Bogotá blames other countries for its internal war, particularly its neighbors, "governed by left wing forces." "The Colombia of today, occupied by the military and run by an elite warmonger, has become a latent danger to the entire region," concludes the text of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry.
The government of Hugo Chávez believes that the military agreement that the U.S. and Colombia negotiated should be tried in the Organization of American States (OAS), among other international bodies, according to the Venezuelan ambassador in Bogotá, Gustavo Márquez. Márquez said this in an interview broadcast by state-owned channel Venezolana de Television, in response to the request of the secretary general of the OAS, the Chilean Juan José Miguel Insulza, that the differences between Caracas and Bogotá be resolved through dialogue. Márquez said that Insulza's approach "is wrong" because the presence of more U.S. military bases in new bases in Colombia "affects all countries in the region, not just Venezuela." "Our hope is that the subject is beginning to be aired in bodies such as UNASUR (Union of South American Nations), the Rio Group, the OAS, because once they sign the agreement the relationships will never be the same," said the Venezuelan ambassador.
The first vice-president of the Venezuelan Press Bloc, Miguel Henrique Otero, condemned the action of the National Guard against David Natera Febres, president of that institution. He informed the editor of the Correo del Caroní, David Natera, last Tuesday, when he was the victim of harassment by the Natoinal Guard. He was the only passenger detained and seized by the enforcement body after arriving at Puerto Ordaz from the airport "Simón Bolívar" of Maiquetía. Two national guards removed Natera the queue of passengers preparing to exit the airport after collecting their luggage and took him to an inspection site where they demanded his identification and seized hand luggage and his briefcase without any explanation. In response, Otero said "they will not succeed in frightening or intimidating the independent media. The country knows the strength and principles that characterize the Correo del Caroni, its editor has a consistent tradition of defending freedom of expression and journalistic dignity."
The president of Conindustria, Carlos Larrazábal, on Wednesday warned that freezing commercial relations will impact Venezuela more than Colombia, "because many of the imported products coming into the country are from the neighboring nation." Larrazábal expressed "concern" on behalf of the manufacturing sector because "the political difficulties between the two countries has implications in economic relations." "We see how positions of other countries that Venezuela has criticized as imperialists who take economic measures to affect other people, we have taken here; but without realizing that the most affected are the Venezuelan people, since many of the products being imported into the country are from Colombia," said the entrepreneur. He said that in 2008 Venezuela imported more than $6 billion worth of goods from Colombia and "this year, our imports as of May were $2.247 billion, a large quantity of which were finished products and raw materials."
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