Election Doubts: IAPA expresses concern about limitations on the press

So it was exposed by the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) due to the “atmosphere of continuing restrictions” on freedom of press and journalism in Ecuador during the election campaign for the elections to be held next February 17.

Claudio Paolillo, President of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information of the IAPA, made the accusation “according to reports from Ecuador, restrictions ranging from how to finance and hire advertising services to disqualification of television advertising that the National Council electoral (CNE for its Spanish acronym) regards as offensive. ”

Claudio Paolillo

Paolillo cited several examples:

• The fact that presidential candidates can only spend the money given by the state through the CNE in approved media by that body.
• The CNE disqualified and removed the transmission of the TV spot made by Alberto Acosta (MPD-PK), which showed a cartoon of a small king.
• The CNE disavowed the broadcast of the TV spot known as “La Feriatta”, which discredited candidate Guillermo Lasso (CREO).
• The CNE warned that it will penalize media that does not give “fair” broadcast time to the various candidates.
• El Universo Newspaper “was forced” to publish a letter from the candidates Rafael Correa and Jorge Glas, denouncing the newspaper for publishing a cartoon alluding to an alleged copy in Glas’ thesis.
• The anonymous website http://www.bananaleaks.com is  no longer available on the internet after publishing the information alleging that Correa had accounts in Switzerland.