Paper that cant be bought under government attack

Panama’s La Prensa, renowned for its investigative journalism which has uncovered numerous scandals dating back to the dictatorship, has reacted strongly to government attacks.

On Friday, December 23, once again sparing no punches, it carried the following story as it’s front page lead.

In recent months there has been an escalation of attacks on the newspaper La Prensa, its officers and journalists, by the president, Ricardo Martinelli, and figures of his government.

The latest attack took place yesterday from the government newspaper Panama America, which devoted its cover to the lawyer Jorge Molina.

The story is a performance by Jorge Molina as the legal representative of the Public Service Authority in a lawsuit against a hydroelectric plant. Molina said the information is false and tendentious.

The staff of La Prensa and other unofficial media have sustained, messages, attacks, pressures and fiscal audit visits, after the disclosing some government scandal. Various organizations have declared a "state of alert" and the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) in its meeting last month, said that journalists in Panama are subject to some kind of threat.

Roberto Eisenmann, founder and  president of the newspaper, said that President Martinellia shown no mercy to La Prensa, "because it is the newspaper that could not be bought and , which he could not penetrate."