Diego Cornejo: ‘we are reluctant to an undemocratic and restrictive law’

Resistance gained international recognition. In the words of Diego Cornejo, executive director of the Association of Newspaper Editors (Aedep for its Spanish acronym) since 2011, this resistance has a mission: to repeal the Law of Communication (LOC), which is an antidemocratic and restrictive instrument.” In October, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) will award the Aedep, as part of its activities because of the 72nd Assembly, the IAPA Grand Prize for Press Freedom.

What challenges imply this prize?

The first big challenge is to maintain the resistance. Several media have faltered during this period, which have left the Aedep to avoid political or economic problems.

How many media are members of the Aedep?

About twenty media, but there are six media companies. The Aedep represents a group of companies that have communication products; including newspapers that have endured over the last 10 years a strong aggression by the State and the Government.

You speak of supporting the resistance, what do you mean, specifically?

We resist the application of a restrictive and antidemocratic Communication Law, and the actions of a Superintendency of the information that generates a number of disadvantages for media companies. We are reluctant to an atmosphere of limitations on the exercise of journalism. Interestingly, a government that claims to be socialist feels repugnance over private media companies, but it does not loathe the oil companies, for example. What is the difference? Obviously, the difference is that communication companies work with a ‘version of reality’ or the ‘interpretation of the reality,’ and that’s a problem for authoritarian governments.

How long will you be able to maintain this resistance?

That resistance will end when we achieve that the Assembly repeals the law, as it is unconstitutional, antidemocratic and regressive. Resistance also involves developing survival strategies for the media attacked economically.

Presidential elections are coming. Are there real expectations that the candidates pledge to repeal this law?

All politicians, except the public sector, have joined the proposal to repeal the law … the candidates of the opposition have said that one of their first acts will be to repeal it.