Gerardo Chévez, journalist of Radio Progreso, receives death threats: "We are killing all journalists who talk sh... like you"

Receiving Death Threats makes him news

Written by Revistazo.com

Monday, 26 April 2010 10:17

After seven years of complaints and investigations published with transparency and fairness, Gerardo Chévez, reporter of Radio Progreso, is now in the crosshairs of those who want to "silence" him. Today, he is news and from that position he gave us an interview. Revistazo.com. In December 2009, Chévez accompanied the Revistazo.com team to a tour to the city of El Progreso.The common goal: to reveal the negligence of the municipal authorities in the use of 15 million lempiras that since 2006, Congress issued for the purchase of a piece of land that would function as a sanitary filling. Nothing has been done four years later. The money, they say, is in the bank. This type of research, plus others made in his career in journalism, keeps Chévez in the list of threatened journalists, even outside, which includes the seven who have been killed. The interview with this digital medium: Revistazo.com (R): Before going into the current topic, tell us a little about your background and the topics covered that might cause you enemies in journalism? Gerardo Chévez (GC) Well, I have working for seven years for Radio Progreso. I have covered cases that have to do with corruption in the municipality of El Progreso, surrounding communities, poverty, corruption, in general this type of topics that the mainstream press does not like to cover much. It damage names. R: But did the threats come since then? GC: No, actually the threats and harassment, I've also had, escalated with the coverage which I made on the coup. At that time, we even had to suspend transmissions with the order given by the de facto government to close Radio Progreso . We were outside and with fear that they might do anything to us. Remember that the media against the coup, we were persecuted, closed and threatened. But another issue that became crucial, was the coverage that we have made on the land conflict that persists in the Lower Aguan. The lands which are in dispute between the peasants and the landowner Miguel Facussé, powerful businessman who wants to own the whole area at the expense of whatever. R: When did you start to feel that your life was really in danger, what was the signal? GC: When they start to kill in less than a month in March and April, six, seven colleagues. When we see that people here are killed and nothing happens, so the same thing happened in the case of colleagues. They have been killed and, so far, no one is paying for that responsibility. When they killed Georgino, I saw and felt the situation had worsened.But it was precisely with the text messages I received on my cell phone from a website. R: What did the messages say, how many were they? GC: "We will kill the ñangaras(golpista slang for communists)," said the first. It was sent to me on March 20 this year. "Chavista communists out," it said as well. However, they still didn't worry me much. I remember that with the coverage of the coup I got used to military threats. One once told me one, "you're on the waiting line, you son of a ...." The message said, "We are killing all journalists who talk sh ... like you." It was sent through the web, a woman or man who called himself Honduras, another one was on April 14 at 11: 30 pm, remember that at that time they had already killed Luis Antonio, radio journalist of San Pedro Sula. The message they sent me says, "we are killing the chequez (checks in allusion to Chévez) and then we'll go after the priests," referring to Father Melo. R:What did you think then? GC: Fear, I thought of my wife, my family fears. With the murder of Georgino, that worried me completely indeed. In a country which records the killing of seven journalists, where impunity reigns, although such threats are only messages, they frighten and put one in distress, people around you, my radio colleagues. R: What is your greatest fear? GC: What I fear the most is impunity, I repeat, to know that people here are killed like an animal and it just becomes another statistic. You won't go further than being a miserable broadcast or year-end statistics. But there is no serious investigation, there is no process, there is much to hide indeed. R: Could this episode drive you away from journalism? GC: Ironically I am afraid, but have a greater desire to make a different journalism, with commitment. You get the solidarity of fellow Honduras and abroad. No, the answer is no. I'll take my precautions, but it is necessary to make a social journalism, one of complaints in favor of deprived groups. Source: revistazo.biz - elquinceavopaso.blogspot.com .