Under proposed Paraguay law, “night is falling” on press freedom

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Sen. Lizarella Valiente of Paraguay expressed concern last month about journalists and media organizations in her country that had received funding from American billionaire and mega donor George Soros.

During a senate hearing, she projected images onto a screen, singling out veteran journalist Mabel Rehnfeldt and her profile on the website of the Soros-supported International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

“We know very well what ideology Soros belongs to,” said Valiente, a member of the conservative Colorado Party. “He funds big NGOs all over the world, pro-abortion, pro-LGBT, pro-this, pro-that. We want citizens to know that.”

Valiente was speaking in favor of a bill the Senate approved and sent to the Chamber of Deputies aiming to “establish control, transparency and accountability for non-profit organizations” in Paraguay.

Sponsors of the bill say it seeks to regulate non-profit organizations that receive public and private funds of national or international origin. These non-profits must be included in a single national registry, provide details of the activities they carry out and give detailed reports on the use of funds. There are penalties for those who do not comply.

Yet, observers say excessive control over organizations – including an increased administrative burden – aims to close down the work of civil society, including that of the media and journalists.

“I felt outraged, I felt violated,” Rehnfeldt told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR) after the Senate hearing. “They treat me like a criminal while they pardon the politicians who are really involved in serious allegations. Something is very wrong in Paraguay. And I suspect they are coming after freedom of the press and freedom of expression with everything they've got.”

Concerns about freedom of expression

Several organizations have spoken out about the negative effects the proposed law could have on freedom of expression in Paraguay.

The United Nations special rapporteurs for freedom of peaceful assembly and human rights defenders sent a letter to President Santiago Peña saying the bill removes independence from NGOs and that it allows for severe economic penalties that could make non-profit work unsustainable.

Hugo Valiente, legal coordinator of the Paraguayan section of Amnesty International, agrees that journalism as a profession could be a target of this bill.

“This is a bill that presents a very high-risk scenario due to the vast margin of arbitrariness it allows,” he told LJR.

He argued that the restrictions established in the bill are unconstitutional and that its ambiguous language creates obstacles for an organization to receive its legal status and even establishes ways to lose it if it already has it.

Financing control is perhaps one of the most worrying because “it puts the independence of civil society at total risk,” Valiente said. Both media outlets and independent journalists who receive a significant portion of their resources through grants or by participating in international projects supported by international organizations see the bill as an obstacle.

This would affect journalists like Rehnfeldt, who, in addition to working with the legacy outlet ABC Color, sometimes collaborates on international projects with organizations like ICIJ or Connectas, and independent media outlets like El Surti or El Otro País – based in Atyrá, about 37 miles from the capital Asunción.

According to Andrés Colmán Gutiérrez, co-founder and editorial director of El Otro País, the bill would impact journalists, independent digital media, as well as social development projects with rural, Indigenous communities, or civil society sectors in general.

“That’s the danger posed by this bill,” Colmán told LJR.

“Journalists are going to have an extra layer of scrutiny that even the politicians allowing the infiltration of drug trafficking don’t have,” said Rehnfeldt, who added that this bill would strip journalists and media outlets of even the ability to receive training, education, and tools for their work.

“I think the night is falling on freedom of expression in general and on press freedom in particular,” she said.

Another concerning aspect of the bill relates to the information that organizations will be required to provide to the state, which, according to Valiente, is “disproportionate.” He noted that Paraguay already has legislation in place requiring all types of organizations (including non-profits) to submit information to combat money laundering. But this bill would mandate the submission of information that goes beyond tax matters and is considered sensitive.

There are also concerns about fines of up to US$370,000 for non-profit organizations, although the bill does not define which types of crimes, leaving it to the discretion of the government.

An international anti-rights movement

According to Alejandro Valdez, co-founder of the digital native media outlet El Surti, this bill is part of a broader political effort led by the conservative Colorado Party, whose members control both chambers of congress and the presidency.

Former President Horacio Cartes, currently president of the Colorado Party, has been investigated by journalists in his country, and designated by the U.S. Department of State in 2022 for involvement in “significant corruption.”

Valdez explained that in Paraguay—a highly Catholic country with a growing evangelical community—a narrative has been taking hold for several years that there are global conspiracies like the UN’s 2030 Agenda aimed at controlling national lives and customs. This is allegedly achieved through the financing of activists and journalists. This view sees the defense of rights as a threat to “traditional values.”

Some Paraguayan senators, like Gustavo Leite, one of the bill's supporters, have been speakers at a congress hosted by Hungary's ultra-conservative president, Viktor Orbán.

The passage of this type of bill and increasingly nationalist rhetoric have accelerated alongside more administrative and financial sanctions from the United States against former President Cartes. In fact, on Aug. 8, Paraguay requested that the United States expedite the departure of its ambassador.

“They’re turning a private company’s problem into a matter of national interest as if it were affecting Paraguay as a country,” said Jazmín Acuña, editorial director of El Surti.

“I think the best show of solidarity today would be to focus attention on this little part of South America,” Acuña added. “Expressions of solidarity with journalism would also be very, very welcome because today, journalism is one of the few spaces that remain independent of the current power.”

For Valdez, the threats media are being felt across the region, as has already happened in Nicaragua or Venezuela.

“This is a Paraguay chapter, but it’s a chapter of a larger story happening in parallel and, in some cases, as we see in Hungary, perhaps in a coordinated manner,” he said.

LJR requested statements from Senator Leite but did not receive a response by deadline.

The bill is now before the Chamber of Deputies. Given the Colorado Party’s overwhelming majorities, it’s likely it will be signed by the president this year. While it’s likely the courts will side with the ruling party, independent organizations say they’re preparing lawsuits to challenge its constitutionality.

This article was originally published by LatAm Journalism Review and republished on IJNet under a Creative Commons license.

Image by David Peterson from Pixabay.

Translated by Jorge Valencia.

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Under proposed Paraguay law, “night is falling” on press freedom

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