(Caracas) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is seeking a third six-year term in Sunday’s presidential election, on Monday accused international media outlets, including Agence France-Presse (AFP), of being “sicarios (hit men) of lies.”
“They have tried a thousand times to make us invisible, now the operation is being carried out by hitmen, the hitmen of lies, the EFE agency of Spain, the AFP agency, the AP agency (Associated Press), CNN and several television channels here. Once again, we know the story, I have already seen this film,” Maduro said at a rally in San Cristobal (southwest), on the border with Colombia.
According to the president, the media are censoring him and “manipulating” information about his election campaign.
“They are already crying fraud. Nobody is going to taint the political process. If they jump the line [rouge]they will regret it for 200 years and it will be the last mistake of their life, it will be their last political mistake, there will be justice against the fascists,” he continued.
President Maduro has already lashed out twice in the past week at international agencies and media outlets, calling them “scum” and the “spearhead” of an alleged opposition plan to expose fraud in the July 28 elections.
On Sunday, Mr Maduro will face off at the polls against Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, an opposition candidate who most polls put in the lead.
Members of his party reject these polls, saying they are fabricated and present their own projections that are favorable to them.
During the campaign, which officially ends Thursday, about a hundred opponents have been arrested, according to human rights organizations. The government has denounced several plans to assassinate the president and plots to overthrow the government.
The Foreign Press Association (APEX) has rejected the verbal attacks made by Nicolas Maduro. “We ask not to involve the international press in the political debate or in unfounded accusations,” it said.
Venezuela occupies the 156e ranks out of 180 in the world press freedom index established by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
According to the National College of Journalists (CNP), more than 400 media outlets have closed in Venezuela in the last 20 years. The government has taken the popular channel RCTV off the air and ordered cable operators to remove CNN en Español, Deutsche Welle and Colombian channels NTN24 and RCN.