Dishonest public officials and common criminals are still battering the press because it publicizes their illegal activities.
There have been death threats against journalists, restrictions on news, the levying of high fines for publishing, lawsuits for libel and defamation with demands for high damages, political pressure and even censorship. One journalist even reported being tortured by local authorities.
On April 2, an appeals court ordered the trial of Eduardo Nicolás Bo, editor of the daily Noticias, on charges of defamation and libel against businessman and sports executive Osvaldo Domínguez Dibb. Noticias published statements by Domínguez Dibb linking another sports executive with drug trafficking. The other man denied the charge.
On April 9, Judge Pedro Darío Portillo granted a motion and suspended the broadcast of the program “El Informante” on television Canal 2, anchored by Luis Bareiro. Five people filed the motion, including officials of the Central Bank of Paraguay, who feared the broadcast of footage showing the payment and acceptance of a bribe. The judge denied that he had censored the program and said he only accepted the case because it was an emergency motion. After calling the parties and listening to their arguments, he decided to lift the prohibition.
The daily La Nación, quoting prosecutors from the Public Prosecutor’s Office who asked to remain anonymous, reported on April 10 that the national attorney general, Oscar Latorre Cañeta, had issued a secret order to his subordinates to restrict information given to the press.
Gustavo García of the daily Última Hora, reported that he had received death threats in anonymous phone calls. García has done several investigative projects about the corruption that is rife in the country, such as the fraudulent raiding of private banks, suspicious aspects of the fortune of ex-president Luis González Macchi and his wife, Susan Galli, and the illicit enrichment of customs officials.
On May 2, the Paraguayan Journalists’ Union (SPP) asked the Supreme Court to overturn Judge Dionisio Frutos’s order that Luis Verón of the daily ABC Color pay damages of 50 million guaranis (about $8,000) in a defamation and libel lawsuit brought by architect Juan Carlos Pereira. Verón, who is also a member of the Paraguayan Historical Academy, reported irreparable damage caused in a defective restoration job on an ancient church and historic landmark in Piribebuy, 70 kilometers east of Asunción.
On May 2, Osvaldo Benítez, Fernando Romero, Agustín Acosta and Celso Figueredo of the daily Noticias; and Leoncio Ferreira, Mario Valdez, Claudio Prieto and Bernardo Agusti of the daily Última Hora, were taken hostage and threatened with death by demonstrators at an illegal settlement in San Lorenzo called Marquetalia, 20 kilometers east of Asunción. They were covering the occupation by “landless” and “homeless” people of nearby properties. The squatters also threatened them, shooting firearms and throwing firecrackers at them. They were released after a few minutes. They damaged the vehicle of Noticias and fled.
On June 6, Cristino Peralta, the correspondent of ABC Color in San Pedro, 250 kilometers north of Asunción, was threatened with death by police officers while covering a peasant demonstration.
On June 14, Fausto Coronel Fernández of community radio station Nueva Esperanza, in the province of Canindeyú, 450 kilometers northeast of Asunción, told police he had been tortured by Benito Aguayo, the mayor of a town, and five councilmen, for criticizing the local government.
On June 16, an appeals court ordered the daily Última Hora to pay Laura Doldán Recalde $25,000 because she felt insulted by an advertisement in which someone named Laura offered sexual services and gave a telephone number. A lower court dismissed the lawsuit, but an appeals court overturned that decision and awarded the plaintiff punitive damages.
The court, however, ignored the fact that the ad did not give a complete name and the telephone number was not the plaintiff’s. Also, there is no legal regulation covering conditions for accepting advertisements. The decision was appealed to the Supreme Court.
On June 25, Senator Francisco de Vargas of the opposition Authentic Liberal Radical Party, sued the editor of ABC Color, Aldo Zuccolillo, for an article saying a bribe may have ended up in the hands of members of the judicial oversight panel, of which De Vargas was a member at the time. He demanded $2 million compensation to “clear his name.” This is one of many lawsuits politicians have filed against the editor of ABC Color because of the newspaper’s reports of irregularities.
The name of Aldo Zuccolillo, editor of ABC Color, appeared on a possible “hit list” of people presented by prosecutors who had raided the residence of members of a small leftist party who were sought for kidnapping the wife of a businessman. The prosecutors said it appeared that the list had the names of people who might be kidnapped. They also made public other documents that described a guerrilla plan, but did not specify its objectives.
On July 23, television anchorman Darío González filed a lawsuit for libel and violation of privacy against the editor of the daily Crónica, Néstor Insaurralde. The plaintiff alleged that a series of news stories in Crónica, produced with the help of his ex-wife, Solange Guerreño, whom he also sued, depicted him as a heartless person, a bad father and law breaker, which caused him great harm. González demanded damages of 150 million guaranis ($25,000) and publication of a retraction.
On September 11, the Senate approved a bill that would establish regulations under Article 104 of the Constitution concerning disclosure of public officials’ assets. The bill would establish sanctions for officials who do not comply with this requirement, but, at the same time, it prohibits the National Accounting Office, which receives the disclosure statements, from making the information public.
On September 12, Judge Héctor Capurro asked journalist Vladimir Jara of ABC Color to disclose his sources for a news story about a kidnapping case. The judge said the record should reflect that the journalist “did not want to disclose his source,” in violation of an article of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
On September 23, Supreme Court justice Luis Lezcano Claude, accused ABC Color of distorting news about the court. This newspaper and other media outlets have been publishing serious charges of corruption by justices. It has reached the point that Paraguay’s new president, Nicanor Duarte Frutos, the legislature, and leaders of political parties, are looking for some way to dismiss most of them.
Lezcano Claude was particularly upset about an article in ABC Color about a huge travel allowance he had requested for attending a meeting in Mexico, then taking a vacation with his wife. The justice even brought up the idea that a press law was needed, which was rejected by legislators and politicians.
On September 25, lawyer José López Chávez sued journalist Angélica Galeano of Canal 9 television for alleged defamation and libel. The lawyer had defended a person accused of kidnapping, and said he had suffered “serious moral and professional harm” because the journalist allegedly insinuated in a report that he had instructed his client to lie about being tortured in police stations.
On October 3, Nelson Esquivel of the magazine Imagen of Ciudad del Este, 330 kilometers east of Asunción, said he had received death threats after reporting on the television program “El Ojo” on Canal 13 of Asunción about conflicts involving Chinese gangs in that town. Esquivel reported to the police and the local branch of the SPP that he had received anonymous telephone calls at least ten times saying he would be killed because of the report.

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