Martinelli attacks on media bring out more responses

Members of the media and others on Sunday, February 14, reacted to the latest  attacks on the profession by President Ricardo Martinelli.

"Governments do not tolerate criticism and do not want people to critique them," said Guillermo Cochez, former Panama ambassador of the Organization of American States (OAS).
Cochez said this government has changed to the direct confrontation with media, with the proof being Martinelli's recent statement that he is "bored" and "tired" of answering questions.
Julio Ruiloba, editor of the r La Prensa, said the climate of confrontation does not excuse the media from doing their work.
The president of La Estrella, Eduardo Quirós, said that those who occupy a public office should be held accountable.
Journalist Andrés Vega, better known as Domplin, who once served as a deputy and said he would never run again because of the corruption in the Assembly said that "the media does the role of supervising the Assembly which other institutions do not."
Vega holds that all institutions and organizations have been politicized, ''and nobody wants to go out and play the role of overseeing."
HI position was supported by political analyst José Blandón, who said that the media must be a counterweight that is needed in every democracy.
He added that Panama's political system is in crisis. "The government wants to make the media into its public relations firm and that cannot be," he said.
Ruiloba said the media has not invented the scandals that have plagued the government, and that it was the government officials themselves who put them on the table.
Journalist, Ricardo Lombana said that journalists need to be more demanding with information, because there is a smear campaign against them.