EFE (via 14ymedio), Berlin, 5 March 2024 — The German television channel DW denounced, this Tuesday, Venezuela’s cancellation of its Spanish-language programming on cable television, a measure it considered an “attack on freedom of the press,” and demanded the restoration of the signal.
“We make a vehement call to the Venezuelan Government to restore the distribution of the DW TV channel in Spanish as soon as possible. The cancellation of DW distribution is a severe attack on the freedom of people in Venezuela to obtain independent information,” Peter Limbourg, DW general director said in a statement.
Limbourg condemned this “attack on press freedom” and noted that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called DW a “Nazi station” in reaction to some of its contents.
The cancellation of DW’s Spanish channel by the Venezuelan authorities, according to DW, comes as a result of a video from the new DW format How It Affects You, which addresses corruption in different Latin American countries – including Venezuela – and the links between politicians and organized crime.
In a social media post about a segment of the video, “it is clearly established that it is not known to what extent Maduro himself is informed or involved”
The broadcast has Amnesty International (AI) and Insight Crime as its main sources. In a social media post about a segment of the video, “it is clearly established that it is not known to what extent Maduro himself is informed or involved,” DW added.
While Maduro called DW a “Nazi station,” Venezuela’s Minister of Communication, Freddy Ñáñez, spoke of the media spreading “hatred against Venezuela” and defaming that country, according to the German media, which strongly rejected these allegations.
“Millions of people have fled Venezuela during the Maduro regime. Freedom of the press practically does not exist. That it reacts with absurd comparisons to criticism supported by facts is something that fits this profile,” said Limbourg.
He added that “defamation, censorship, internet blocks and the spread of false information about DW and its reporting work is something we are facing in more and more countries. We will continue to do everything in our power to reach people who live under authoritarian regimes,” he stressed.
In DW’s information offering, Spanish is the second foreign language with the highest content consumption after English. The content of its service in Spanish reaches 46 million user every week, according to the media.
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