Correa grabs attention with seized TV stations

[Zorro]

María Carlota Valdés, a charismatic Cuban television chef, became an unlikely champion for free speech in Ecuador recently when she bemoaned the rapid rise in prices for basic foodstuffs.

Her comment drew an admonishment the new government-appointed administrator of the TC television station, Enrique Arosemena. In a heated meeting with the television employees, he prohibited the chef from mentioning rises in food prices and advised presenters not to stray from their areas of speciality.

If employees of TC TV and Gamavisión – which also came under government control after a July 7 raid – did not like the rules they could resign, he said.

Mr Arosemena’s comments were posted on YouTube and blogs, causing public ridicule and disquiet. Journalists have reported attempts at hanging portraits of Mr Correa at Gamavisión and that the only available newspaper in the newsroom is state-owned El Telégrafo.

“People are very fearful and won’t come out and say that anything’s wrong because they’re worried about reprisals. I won’t sell out,” Fabian Loza, a Gamavisión reporter, told the Financial Times.

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More at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5e33284e-5dac-11dd-8129-000077b07658.html

Rafael is acting more and more like a two-bit dictator these days.