Intolerance in the government

[NewsWhore]

Following the firing of journalist Adolfo Salomon from his job at ColorVision, leading journalists are highlighting the government's apparent lack of tolerance. Rafael Molina Morillo, president of the Inter-American Press Association, (IAPA) criticized the Armed Forces Minister. Molina Morillo, of the editorial director of Hoy, El Nacional and El Dia publications, said that Lieutenant General Ramon Aquino Garcia overreacted by sending the letter reprimanding journalist Adolfo Salomon for his irreverent question on homosexuality at an event held to honor Cardinal Nicolas Lopez Rodriguez. He writes that the letter showed that he does not understand the military's attributions and limits, or the role that the press and journalists have in a democratic society. He also criticized television channel ColorVision, where Salomon worked, saying that they applied self-censorship and acted submissively, a characteristic that no press company should want to be labeled with. Molina said that Salomon's dismissal is not the first and will not be the last, and he stressed the importance of debate on this topic so that it can gradually lead to an awareness of the government's intolerance and inability to accept criticism. Ines Aizpun of Diario Libre also focuses on the intolerance she says is prevalent in the Fernandez administration in her editorial commentary today. She points out the irony of the fact that all this is going on while the government promotes the Declaration of Santo Domingo on Info-ethics in Cyberspace. The real life harassment, she says, would be funny if it were not so alarming. She observes that government officials do not tolerate criticism. "And they have made it clear several times, not tolerating an adverse commentary or an irreverent question. "Now we have moved from public reprimands to private firing," she writes. She comments: "The e-government can be thinking about broadband, but in the real world, a boss fires an employee as a result of pressure from the Army, which does not like the press to ask about the rights of homosexuals," she writes. "The excuses offered by the Presidential Palace are welcome, but come as no consolation," she writes, concluding that, "We used to be getting ahead," a word-play on the governmental campaign slogan, "we are getting ahead."

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