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57th General Assembly
Washington, D.C., October, 12-16,
2001
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Country-by-Country
Reports
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URUGUAY
The greatest threat to freedom of the press has
arisen out of the executive branch's efforts in the form of a bill that would
levy value added tax (VAT) on newspapers and magazines. The bill is currently
before Parliament as part of a package of measures that seek to both broaden
the VAT's scope and lower the current rate of 23% - one of the highest in the
world - to 19%.
The government's announcement drew an immediate reaction from all of Uruguay's
media outlets, the Inter-American Press Association, journalists' associations
and their member journalists, and sellers of magazines and daily newspapers.
Without exception they warned the authorities and the public that the measure
would spell the certain demise of a great many publications, lead to higher
unemployment in a sector where it is already at intolerable levels, and constitute
a direct attack on freedom of expression with the disappearance of many channels
of communication and forums for the expression of ideas.
The bill is being debated at a time when the print media are not immune to the
effects of the deep recession affecting each of the different sectors of Uruguay's
economy, some of which are harder hit as a result of sector-specific factors.
While some national and local government entities unfortunately continue to
discriminate in the placement of advertising - and quite scandalously so in
some cases - others which now apply technical criteria have scaled back their
public notices to the bare minimum, with adverse consequences for the independent
press. The private sector, suffering under the effects of the recession, has
likewise cut back sharply on advertising. Newspaper and magazine sales have
dropped as consumers tighten their belts and the price of the publications rises
with the imposition of the VAT to levels that are "very nearly not viable,"
El País declared on its editorial page.
The Uruguayan Press Association went even further and warned that levying VAT
on newspaper and magazine sales would amount to a "death sentence for the
nation's print media."
In another connection, the wave of litigation against the press continues under
Press Law 16099, which IAPA has characterized at prior meetings as "abridging"
freedom of speech but is still in effect. Generally speaking, judges have been
extremely generous in granting the right of reply, which was established in
the same press law under the dictatorship. In one case the magazine Búsqueda
was forced to appeal in May to a higher court, which invalidated the trial court
judge's decision and released the magazine from having to publish a government
official's reply. Meanwhile, a number of complaints are pending against journalists
and the media, some demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
 questions
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Copyright © 2003 Inter American Press Association.
All rights reserved.
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