[Net-Gold] Honduras: Radio Progreso Raid Shows How Military Censor News Media

[David P. Dillard]

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Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:10:19 -0700 (MST)
From: George Lessard <me...@web.net>
Reply-To: Net-...@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Net-Gold] Honduras: Radio Progreso Raid Shows How Military Censor News
Media





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Honduras:
Honduras: Radio Progreso Raid Shows
How Military Censor News Media

<http://www.rsf.org/spip.php?page=
article&id_article=35075>

With just six days to go to controversial
general elections, Reporters Without Borders
is today posting a video of a raid on Radio
Progreso, a radio station based in the
northern town of El Progreso that was one of
the first victims of last June?s coup d?état.

Just hours after the democratically-elected
president, Manuel Zelaya, was deposed and
deported on 28 June, 25 soldiers raided Radio
Progreso to prevent it broadcasting any
information about the coup.>

The general elections that the de facto
authorities are planning to hold on 29
November have been fiercely criticised both
within Honduras and by a segment of the
internal community and the opposition media
are expected to have problems during the last
week of the election campaign.

Esdras Amado López, the head of Canal 36
television, reported on 20 November that his
station has been closed by the authorities
again. It was already closed for a while in
September and has often been censored.

Pro-coup media are meanwhile exposed to the
possibility of street violence, as an attack
on the Tegucigalpa-based station HRN on 4
November already showed.

Founded by Jesuits 60 years ago and nowadays
run by Father Ismael Moreno (also known as
?Padre Melo?), Radio Progreso employs around
10 - mainly young - reporters while involving
its listeners in the preparation of many of
its news, educational and musical programmes.
It is fiercely independent and often
criticised President Zelaya before the coup.

The footage shown in the video was filmed by
the staff of Radio Progreso, which Reporters
Without Borders and six other international
press freedom organisations met during a
joint visit to Honduras from 1 to 7 November

(see 13 November release)

The other organisations that took part in
this international press freedom mission to
Honduras were the World Association of
Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC),
Freevoice, International Media Support (IMS),
the World Association of Newspapers WAN),
the International Federation of Journalists
(IFJ) and Article 19.

Video
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgfbWwLHjI0>

En la ciudad de El Progreso (norte del pais),
cuatro horas después del golpe del 28 de junio
de 2009, las instalaciones de Radio Progreso, una
emisora educativa fundada y animada por la
comunidad jesuita, están sitiadas por militares.
Las autoridades obligan a la redacción a cerrar en
el acto todas las operaciones.

El director, Ismael Moreno, informó en un
comunicado que personas del pueblo se interponieron,
evitando así violencias más graves. En noviembre
de 2009, Reporteros sin Fronteras encontró al
equipo de Radio Progreso.

Reporters Without Borders: Radio Progreso

Four hours after the coup detat on 28 june 2009,
in the city of El Progreso (in the north of the
country), the offices of Radio Progresso, an
educational radio station founded and run by
the Jesuit community, were taken over by the army.
The authorities forced the staff to immediately
stop all activity.

The director, Ismael Moreno, highlighted in a
press release that the villagers intervened,
thereby avoiding more serious violence.
In November 2009, Reporters Without Borders met
with the Radio Progreso team.

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