Journalists in Bolivia face attacks, verbal assaults

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WASHINGTON — Fearing for his life, Josue Chube Choque remembers shouting that he was a journalist as protesters attacked him in Bolivia last month.

The reporter was working for TV station Unitel, covering widespread protests by supporters of Bolivia’s former president as they blocked roads across the country.

Choque said he received multiple hits to his body and face after being ambushed while covering confrontations between the police and protesters in the town of Mairana.

“At some point we saw people coming from every side of the road. We were being ambushed — the police, other colleagues and me,” he told VOA, adding that he was prevented from leaving. “All I did was cover my face, eyes, nose, pray to God.”

Choque identified himself multiple times as a journalist but, he said, “No one paid attention to what I was saying, and protesters continued hitting me.”

The reporter was held against his will for several hours, and his equipment was taken. Finally, with the assistance of some women in the community, he was able to leave.

The journalist is one of around two dozen media workers attacked while covering the protests. Their cases reflect a worsening environment for the press in Bolivia, according to analysts who say verbal attacks from officials, physical assaults and withholding of advertising revenue are making journalism more challenging.

Zulema Alanis Bravo, president of the National Association of Journalists in Bolivia, said that journalists are being attacked more frequently. She referenced the latest report of the Human Rights Observatories in Bolivia, which says that on average, a reporter is attacked every three days in the country.

“Unfortunately, in none of the cases we have seen a transparent investigation, a reparation and no justice,” said Bravo. “Belligerence against journalists and the media has increased in recent years.”

An independent investigation commissioned by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights earlier this year found that in Bolivia, “there are worrying conditions of threats and extreme risks for journalistic work.”

The country fell seven points on the World Press Freedom Index. It currently ranks 124 out of 180, where 1 shows the best media environment.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, which compiles the index, has documented at least 25 cases of reporters being attacked while covering last month’s protests. A VOA crew was among those harassed, while working in the town of Parotani.

Raul Penaranda, who in 2018 co-founded the independent news outlet Brujula Digital, said the environment for journalists has worsened amid a political crisis.

Former President Evo Morales is calling on his supporters to protest the current government, which leaves journalists caught in clashes between protesters and police. During his presidency and since leaving office, Morales regularly targeted the press and singled out individual journalists and their outlets, including Penaranda.

Morales has “constantly [been] against journalists and their work,” Penaranda said.

But under President Luis Arce, Penaranda said, the allocation of state advertising is a tool of “reward and punishment,” with media perceived to be aligned with the government being favored. Meanwhile, media viewed as critical miss out on funds and potential sponsors.

The government “pressures the private sector not to advertise,” Penaranda said.

The adversarial rhetoric from political leaders has a knock-on effect.

“There is a lot more challenges nowadays to work as a journalist,” said Choque.

“It looks like there is a similar motto around the country. Colleagues have heard in multiple places while covering protests that people who are supporters of the former president scream at reporters, ‘Let’s burn them alive.’”

Arce’s media team did not respond to VOA's request for comment. VOA attempts to reach a current spokesperson for Morales and to reach a legislator who worked for his party were unsuccessful.

When it comes to physical attack, Bravo said that a lack of justice, coupled with journalists being wary of reporting incidents to authorities, combine to make the situation worse.

In Choque’s case, he says he reported the incident to police. But after receiving multiple threats, he left the country while an investigation takes place.

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