The RightWing administration of Felipe Calderon has decided to utilize censorship as a method to tamp down on dissent in Mexico.
First, it explicitly instructs the national media to refrain from airing a five minute radio spot during which AMLO (center-left candidate defrauded of the presidency) symbolically takes the oath of the presidency. As you read the account of this decree, please note that on the day of Calderon's swearing in ceremony, December 1, the two major TV networks, Televisa and Azteca, did not broadcast the hundreds of thousands of Mexicans who congregated at the Zocalo and Torre Mayor, an "oversight" so egregious that Jorge Ramos, the lead anchor of Univision Network News in the US, wrote a scathing op-ed taking Calderon and the TV broadcasters to task. This was covered in a previous diary, found here.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Below the fold is a news account of the censorship, first in Spanish, from primary sources, than roughly translated by me.
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/...
Instruye RTC no trasmitir programa radial de AMLO
Está en trámite el pronunciamiento del IFE, señala
La Dirección General de Radio, Televisión y Cinematografía (RTC), de la Secretaría de Gobernación, pidió a las estaciones radiofónicas del país suspender el programa perredista ''Toma de protesta del presidente legítimo de México, Andrés Manuel López Obrador'', que este viernes comenzaría a difundirse en tiempos oficiales.
Argumentó que aún se encuentra en trámite el pronunciamiento del Consejo General del Instituto Federal Electoral cuyos consejeros se encuentran de vacaciones sobre la legalidad de ese programa, con una duración de cinco minutos.
El anuncio fue dado a conocer la tarde de ayer por una estación radiofónica y después fue confirmado por fuentes de la dependencia. Se afirmó que la circular sí existe y fue transmitida con el propósito de esperar a que los consejeros electorales dictaminen si el contenido del mismo está dentro de la legalidad.
Mediante el oficio, la Dirección de Radio y Televisión pidió la suspensión y el apoyo de los citados medios electrónicos para que suspendan la transmisión del 5 de enero, perteneciente al Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD). Inclusive planteó: ''Favor de no trasmitir este programa''.
Roughly translated...
The department of radio, television and cinematography (RTC), of the Secretary of Homeland Security asked radio stations throughout the nation to suspend the PRDista program, "Swearing in of the legitimate president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador", which was to begin airing last Friday.
The RTC argued that it is in the process of securing the approval of the IFE whose commissioners are on vacation. Specifically, the RTC seeks to determine the legality of the program which runs for about five minutes.
The suspension was announced yesterday afternoon by a radio station, and was later confirmed by sources at the Homeland Security Department. They confirmed that a bulletin asking stations to refrain from transmitting the program does exist, as they would like to determine the legality of the contents before allowing its broadcast.
According to the decree, on January 5th the Department of Radio and Television asks the electronic media to suspend the program, which is produced by the PRD. Explicitly, it asks, "Please do not transmit this program."
At the same time that Calderon asks the press to censor the Center-Left movement, it also asks the media to refrain from reporting on the narco violence that is tearing the country apart.
http://srv2.vanguardia.com.mx/...
Pide Ramírez Acuña no hacerle ‘el caldo gordo’ al narcotráfico
VILLAHERMOSA, TABASCO, ENERO 2, 2007 (LA JORNADA).- El secretario de
Gobernación, Francisco Ramírez Acuña, llamó "a no hacerle el caldo
gordo" a la delincuencia organizada, y que tanto los medios de
comunicación como la sociedad en general dejen de insistir en el
grave problema de narcotráfico que padece el país.
"Es un tema que ya conocemos todos. No le sigamos dando sobre lo
mismo. Tenemos problemas de narcotráfico y tenemos que resolverlo
todos. Si nos seguimos regocijando todos en ese tipo de cosas, pues
lo único que le hacemos es el caldo gordo a los delincuentes y a la
delincuencia organizada. Ya lo sabemos, entonces es tema que no
tenemos por qué profundizar más cuando ya sabemos que es un problema
serio al que tenemos que atacar", aseveró el funcionario.
Roughly translated...
The Secretary of Homeland Security, Francisco Ramirez, called on the media to "not overemphasize" organized crime, and that the media as well as society in general should refrain from continuing to insist on the seriousness of the narco problem in the country.
"It's a topic which we all know. Let's not continue saying the same thing. We have narco problems, and we must solve them. If we continue taking delight in these kinds of things, the only thing we'll accomplish is playing into the hands of organized crime. We all know this. Therefore, we do not need to dwell on the same problem, especially when we all realize that is is a serious problem that we must all attack," said the official.
How have some columnists respond to this request? (I say some because most are bought and paid for by Calderon and his RightWing Spin Machine) The same way Centrists reply in the US, when the GOP and FoxNews take the media to task for reporting on the situation in Iraq.
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/...
Pulso Político
Francisco Cárdenas Cruz
05 de enero de 2007
¿Quién le hace "el caldo gordo" al narco?
Ramírez Acuña afirma que son los medios
El lunes pasado en Villahermosa, a donde acudió con la representación del presidente Felipe Calderón a la ceremonia de toma de posesión del nuevo gobernador priísta de Tabasco, Andrés Granier, el secretario de Gobernación, Francisco Ramírez Acuña, llamó a los medios de comunicación a "no hacerle el caldo gordo" al narcotráfico y al crimen organizado y a dejar de referirse a esos males que agobian al país.
Eso obliga a preguntarle al funcionario:
¿Quién es el que "le hace el caldo gordo" a los cárteles de la droga y a la delincuencia? ¿Los medios de comunicación que dan a conocer los hechos de violencia que unos y otra cometen a lo largo y ancho del país y reproducen las declaraciones y anuncios de acciones antinarco que su jefe, el Ejecutivo federal, hace un día sí y otro también, desde que asumió el cargo hace más de un mes?
¿Acaso cree el ex gobernador panista de Jalisco un estado en el que los llamados "barones de la droga" sentaron sus reales y operaron, y operan, con toda impunidad que bastaría que los medios impresos, radiofónicos y televisivos dejaran de "hacerle el caldo gordo" no publicando las ejecuciones, decapitaciones, bombazos y granadazos que casi a diario bañan de sangre y aterrorizan a los habitantes de varias entidades federativas?
Roughly translated...
Pulso Político
Francisco Cárdenas Cruz
05 de enero de 2007
Who is "playing into the hands" of narcos?
Ramirez Acuna accuses the media of complicity with narcos
Last Monday, in Villahermosa, where he represented president Felipe Calderon at the swearing in ceremony for the new PRIista governor of Tabasco, Andres Granier, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Franciso Ramirez Acuna, asked the media to "not play into the hands" of the narcotraffickers and organized crime, and to refrain from referring to those ills which overwhelm our country.
This begs the question:
Who is "playing into the hands" of the drug cartels and organized crime? The media, which report the violent acts committed by them across the nation, and which reproduce the declarations and announcements of anti-drug actions undertaken by his boss, the federal executive, every day since he assumed his post over one month ago?
Does the former PANista governor of Jalisco - a state where the so-called "drug barons" have established themselves and from where they operate with impunity - believe that it would suffice for the print , radio and TV media to refrain from "playing into the hands" of organized crime by not reporting the executions, decaptitations, bombings, and grenade attacks which, on a daily basis, leave us awash in blood and terrorism.
Meanwhile, Calderon will avail himself of more airtime than any president in Mexico's history. So, he censors those he doesn't agree with, and asks the media to refrain from reporting events which do not present him favorably, but he does insist on amassing HUGE amounts of airtime, to continue pouring Kool-Aid down the throats of Mexicans.
http://mx.invertia.com/...
2006-2012
Tendrá Calderón 700 mil horas para difusión
Lunes, 8 de Enero de 2007, 8h36
Fuente: InfoSel Financiero
MEXICO, Enero. 8. - El presidente Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, contará con 701 mil 815 horas de tiempos oficiales que corresponden al Estado en estaciones de radio y televisión, lo que representa una cifra que ningún otro mandatario mexicano había alcanzado.
Con dicho tiempo aire, Felipe Calderón podrá posicionar y consolidar toda política y programa de su gobierno respecto de cualquier sector que así lo requiera, tanto del gabinete legal como del ampliado, con lo que los tiempos oficiales del Estado en el actual sexenio crecerán 5.77%, lo que representa un aumento de 38 mil 315 horas más, informa Milenio Diario.
Roughly translated...
Felipe Calderon will have access to 701,815 hours of time on radio and TV, more than any other Mexican president has ever had.
With this airtime, Felipe Calderon will be able to position and consolidate his political agenda upon any sector of society that it desires. The year over year increase represents an increase of 5.77%, or 38,315 more hours than President Fox.
Why is this important? Is there dissent in Mexico? Well, there are blogs. The #1 political blog is
http://www.alexa.com/...
And not all newspapers or columnists are RightWing FoxNews copies.
Regrettably, however, Televisa and Azteca control over 95% of the TV audience, and the radio broadcasters are mostly owned by RightWing groups. Most Mexicans, especially lower and middle-class Mexicans, receive their news from the major media, and it is this major media that is pouring Kool-Aid down their throats, at the behest of, and in complicity with, the authoritarian regime of Calderon.
That is why censorship in Mexico should be a concern for all of us. The more censorship, the more likely Mexico will remain as stagnant and regressive (and I say this as a Mexican-American whose parents hail from Nuevo Leon) as it has been during the last 25 years, during which time per/capita GDP growth has been about 0.7% a year, thanks to the PAN/PRI.