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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | December 2006 
Editor Accuses Fox, Calderón of Exerting Pressure On Him
 El Universal
| | José Gutiérrez Vivó (Milenio) |
An editor and broadcast journalist says the Fox administration and Felipe Calderón´s new team exerted and continue to exert pressure on him to soften his criticism.
José Gutiérrez Vivó, who has a radio program and is the editor of the Monitor newspaper, told a gathering of journalists here that both administrations consider him "a nuisance."
Calderón took office last Friday from Fox for a six year term.
The National Human Rights Commission issued a sort of report card last month on Fox´s government, saying he paid lip service to individual guarantees and liberties but generally did little concretely to promote increased respect for them.
Despite the report´s generally critical tone, it said one bright spot was the Fox administration´s promotion of advancement in the field of freedom of the press and of expression.
Gutiérrez Vivó´s radio program was generally critical of Fox. Among other things, the broadcaster carried in their entirety the speeches of leftist presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was narrowly defeated by Calderón but has refused to accept the legitimacy of the election, saying it was marred by fraud.
DISGUISED AGGRESSION
Gutiérrez Vivó, in comments Wednesday evening during a gathering at the Journalists Club here, said "I have never before seen the kind of disguised aggression such as that which we have been the object of since the middle of the previous administration."
He did not provide names or specifics as to what form the alleged pressure was taking. But he said it was economic in nature, and alleged that Calderón "is surrounded by some people who adhere to the model employed by the PRI."
He was referring to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the authoritarian party that governed without interruption for 71 years before being defeated by Fox´s conservative National Action Party in 2000. The PRI, known for bullying opponents into line, systematically denied government advertising money to media outlets it perceived as overly critical.
Gutiérrez Vivó´s FM broadcast went off the air recently, reportedly due to financial difficulties. He continues on the air in the AM band and also appears on the Channel 52 television station.
Without providing a name, he said someone from Calderón´s office called him. He quoted the unidentified individual as saying: "You are being punished. We´ll keep an eye on how you behave."
Calderón´s office did not immediately comment on the allegation. |
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