The Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab, reported that his office has assigned Prosecutors 15 of Barinas and Prosecutor 16 of Mérida to investigate the assaults perpetrated by violent mobs on two community radio stations located in the municipalities of Zamora in Barinas state, and Andrés Bello in Mérida state:
“The aggressors caused damage to these community stations by cutting cables, damaging booths and physically threatening the directors of these radio media, even in the presence of minors”, said the head of the Public Ministry office on his account on the Twitter social network.
As will be recalled earlier this Wednesday, November 24, the Minister of People’s Power for Communication and Information, Freddy Ñáñez, denounced that these attacks were perpetrated by groups led by the newly elected opposition mayors of those municipalities.
In two messages published on his account on the Twitter social network, the senior official expressed the solidarity of the Bolivarian Government with the workers of the La Azulita 103.7 FM radio station located in Mérida: “I congratulate the brave people of the Andrés Bello Municipality for the defense they made of the radio against this fascist act”.
“Why is it that when the right wing comes to power, the first thing it does is persecute community radio stations and alternative media? Mayor María Villasmil, you are starting off on the wrong foot. We are not going to allow one more outrage against freedom of expression”, said the head of the office for Communication in one of his tweets.
Likewise, in another message on the same social network, Ñáñez also referred to the events that occurred in Santa Bárbara de Barinas where attacks led by Mayor Nelson García Mora were registered: “In a drunkenness of power, he silenced by force the Community Radio Explosiva 88.7 FM. Do know that we will respect freedom of expression and the integrity of popular communicators”, he said.
