Last night, HegemonCorp.-owned newspaper El Universal fired cartoonist Rayma Suprani. Why? Because of this…
Her work was already being censored ever since the paper changed owners last July, but this was apparently the last straw. El Universal has wasted no time in finding her replacement by announcing an open contest.
Elides Rojas, the newsroom chief, wrote on Twitter that two other journalists have resigned, and he admits that the future for the paper doesn’t look bright. Isn’t it ironic that he was actually the first one who gave a full vow of confidence to the new (but still unknown) owners? I guess in hindsight that went pretty well…
My full solidarity goes to Rayma and the other journalists being forced out of their work by HegemonCorp.’s strategy of censorship, which along with the State’s policy of silence is destroying whatever is left of free speech.
P.S.: In case you don’t understand the cartoon, JC’s latest post for Foreign Policy will help you out.
Caracas Chronicles 
This was predictable, right?
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Very much so. This time Rayma kind of broke her own code of not drawing anything related to Chavez himself. When I saw the cartoon yesterday, I instantly knew she didn’t mean to actually push people’s buttons but the editor’s; the classic “fuck you-won’t quit-fire me” attitude.
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Wow, they must be really insecure to be bothered with such a innocent and benign cartoon, which doesn’t even directly accuses the government of being responsible for anything (she could be very well talking about private health care plans or clinics in that cartoon, we don’t know)… Or even about the average Venezuelan doctor. She leaves the door open for interpretations. This government is completely lost, and generating unnecessary bad marketing for itself.
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erm, a flatline intertwined with the holy signature of the Eternal Commander is interpreted by those associated with the Government who say that the Imperio injected Chavez with cancer, and that the Chikungunya fever in Venezuela is an act of Terrorism.
cabeza ‘e ñame
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I didn’t notice the signature, my bad.
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btw, the cabeza ‘e ñame epithet was directed to anyone associated with the government’s policy of censorship, among 1001 other major issues, in Vzla.
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She got in some good ones while they came to terms with their residual nostalgia for operating a newspaper.
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Steve Bell of the Guardian draws David Cameron with a condom on his head. Does that get him fired? No. Press freedom is dead in Venezuela.
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When the truth becomes your enemy, be prepared for a long battle, because the truth never goes away.
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It was a good Swan Song. If you have to go out… do in style!
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what I don’t understand is this:
How did the cartoon end up being published in El Universal, and why is it that only the cartoonist is dismissed?
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well in the same way that the Santander note mentioning the link between Dilma’s popularity (or lack thereof) and the performanc of the local stock exchange lead to the dismissal of the analyst (but how did it get published?)
http://online.wsj.com/articles/banco-santanders-brazil-unit-fires-analyst-others-after-political-comment-1406665764
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What amazes me is that even though we know that ALL bank research is compromised in one form of another (it shouldn’t even be called research to begin with as it is not peer reviewed), it is still used as putative evidence to support a case (as was the case in the Scottihs referendum).
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Syd,
My guess is everyone in the Opposition at El Universal will be leaving shortly. But, if they do it one by one, instead of all at once, it makes more impact. I imagine they are all planning their own “Swan Songs” and coordinating the timing amongst themselves.
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If you check El Universal online today, you will find the cartoon that got Rayma fired in there. I’m not sure what’s going on. Is the person in charge of putting stuff online the next one to be fired?
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Who knows. May be the last rearguard battles of the takeover – oh you fired her, yes, well, fire me too, because this was published and I’m not going to pretend it wasnt.
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I noticed on the still-Rayma page in Opiniones of El Universal this footnote:
“El Universal no se hace responsable por las opiniones emitidas por los usuarios de esta sección.
El Diario se reserva el derecho a editar los textos aquí publicados.”
Not sure if that was there before. But I also wonder if the “despido” was merely knuckle-rapping which was inflated through oppo-fueled hysteria to a firing. Because a fired cartoonist whose views are unpalatable does not continue to have work exhibited, moreover a most sensitive piece, in a national newspaper that supposedly fired her.
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I don’t think it was there before. I noticed the same thing. I check in periodically to read Manuel Caballero’s old columns. Yes…that is a crazy thing to do I know…
btw, I thought it took months to get authorization to fire an employee in Venezuela. I guess if you are a journalist they fast-track it. Danger to health and safety etc.
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Cuando es el chavismo el que bota a alguien, lo hace con el chasquido de los dedos. Si no, te jodiste.
Tengo un cliente chavista que es abogado en derecho laboral, y el hombre me explicó un día, ley en mano, como básicamente dicho libro es usado como papel tualé tanto por patrones como por empleados.
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Beautiful way to go Rayma, this one is truly for the record.
And time for another “iniciativa”, for someone who truly merits it…
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This goes beyond censorship- this is typical chavista mediocrecracy. It is good, it shows ingenuity, even intelligence… so she must go.
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Case in point: http://www.el-nacional.com/opinion/zapatazos/Zapatazo-viernes-septiembre_18_485531443.html
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“We will not make any changes in El Universal’s staff or editorial line, except of course when we do”.
– Jesus Abreu
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Según el EX vicepresidente de comercialización de El Universal, un tipo llamado Arturo Casado Salicetti, Rayma “fué ella solita para que la botara, por lo que toda la culpa es suya y se merece todo lo que le pasó”
-> http://runrun.es/actualidad/156075/con-esta-carta-renuncio-el-vicepresidente-de-comercializacion-de-el-universal2.html
https://www.facebook.com/arturo.salicetti
Básicamente el fantoche sale balbuceando que Rayma era simplemente una bravucona alzada que se las tiraba de la gran vaina con una actitud constante de “quítame esta pajita”, que “hizo que la botaran” sólo y únicamente porque le interesaba que le pagaran 20 años de prestaciones.
Menciono esto porque cualquier persona que mínimamente se conozca la porquería que es la ley de trabajo chabestia sabe que sí se puede botar gente sin pagarles ni un medio, si existe un justificativo (Y un cliente chavista mismo me lo ha explicado), o si eres lo bastante chavista como el imbécil aquel de apellido molina, que comentaba que en su casa él usaba como papel tualé los derechos de los trabajadores y podría botar a quien él quisiera si lo consideraba “fascista”.
El fulano Salicetti tuvo la previsión de no aceptar comentarios de cualquiera en su facebook, de lo contrario imagino que lo tendría atapuzado de flores que le enviaría la gente que puede pensar por sí sola, y que tal vez haya sido él mismo el que negoció su renuncia a cambio de un buen cheque si le “echaba una salpicadita de mierda” a Rayma.
Total, este régimen es capaz de estupideces como esa.
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Rayma Patricia Janiot, CNNE
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