Members of the Venezuela opposition protest what they believe
was a
stolen election. Was U.S. filmmaker Timothy Hallet Tracy arrested by the
Venezuela government in part for filming the election's violent
aftermath?
'Arrest of Timothy Hallet Tracy Infringes Free Expression in Venezuela' (El Universal, Venezuela)
"We urge the government to show
maximum transparency and objectivity in dealing with Mr. Tracy's case. And given
that this a matter of an audiovisual professional whose work has been brusquely
interrupted for political reasons, we urge his quick release. By failing to do
so, the government of Venezuela is directly infringing on the right to gather
and distribute information in this country - a right that is guaranteed under
the Republic's present constitution."
--
Petition Signed By Many of Venezuela's Leading Filmmakers
Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro: Having charged U.S. director Timothy Hallet Tracy with inciting civil war, Venezuela's leading filmmakers have pertitioned his government seeking Tracy's quick release.
"We,
the undersigned - filmmakers and communication, culture and arts professionals
- express our disagreement with the arrest in Venezuela of a person who is, obviously,
a filmmaker, pursuing the free exercise of audiovisual production. In
particular, we condemn that his the video recordings, confiscated by police
authorities, are being used as evidence to pursue and prosecute Venezuelan
citizens."
So
says a statement signed by well-known Venezuelan filmmakers who demand the
release of U.S. filmmaker Timothy Tracy, a documentarian arrested by Venezuelan
authorities allegedly inciting violence against the Venezuelan government.
The
statement goes on to say:
The
detention of filmmaker Timothy Tracy infringes the right to free expression in
Venezuela.
From
the beginning, the detention of U.S. citizen Timothy Hallet
Tracy by Venezuelan authorities caught the attention of the national
cinematography community, because it was reported he was a filmmaker who for
several months had been making a documentary about the socio-political
situation evolving in our country. We have, however, waited several days before
speaking out, pending more detailed and reliable information about the case, because
the circumstances of his arrest and the reports issued by police and judicial
authorities were confusing and needed to be better investigated for the sake of
reliability and adherence to the truth.
Today,
all information we have been able to collect about Timothy Tracy is that he is
a 35-year-old filmmaker who has been in Venezuela for several months, and that
during his stay, he has carried out intense and extensive work preparing a record
of the political developments taking place in this country. Since the regional
elections, held before the October 7, 2012 presidential election and the outcome
of the illness suffered by President Chavez, up to the new campaign that ended April
14, Tracy had been relating all of the factors on both sides of our politically-polarized
divide. He visited many communities at opposite ends of the socio-economic
spectrum, all with the aim of recording their activities and points of view,
using his only resource - his video camera.
The
activities described - later corroborated by government officials, the
opposition and community organizers - is a portrait of what a responsible,
objective and professional documentary filmmaker should do: identify all
existing angles of the story being documented, get close to the people
involved, record their actions with as much precision and intimacy as possible,
and gather their points of view through statements and testimony. Everything
that has been described, from all sides, about the activities of Timothy Tracy,
show a filmmaker carrying out a serious and profound documentary about our
nation.
This
should surprise no one. For 15 years, the interesting socio-political situation
in Venezuela has made it a privileged arena for researchers, filmmakers and
journalists from around the world who have come to our nation for the purpose
of gathering facts and offering their own interpretations for audiences around
the globe. Our own national government has promoted many of these visits and
the literary or audiovisual productions that have resulted. Of course, not all
the perspectives of such visitors are favorable. This is to be expected in a
democratic, multipolar world.
In
Timothy Tracy’s case, police and law enforcement authorities have offered no concrete
and transparent information that would lend credence to the accusations of supposed
illegal activities he is accused of executing. Situations like these are
becoming ever more frequent in countries around the world, where the right to
free expression and freedom of movement are being violated, with serious
consequences for the communicators being detained and people they are linked to.
We,
the undersigned - filmmakers and communication, culture and arts professionals
- express our disagreement with the arrest in Venezuela of a person who is obviously
a filmmaker, pursuing the free exercise of audiovisual production. In
particular, we condemn that his video recordings, confiscated by police
authorities, are being used as evidence to pursue and prosecute Venezuelan
citizens.
We urge the government to show maximum transparency
and objectivity in dealing with Mr. Tracy's case. And given that this a matter
of an audiovisual professional whose work has been brusquely interrupted for
political reasons, we urge his quick release. By failing to do so, the
government of Venezuela is directly infringing on the right to gather and
distribute information in this country - a right that is guaranteed under the Republic's
present constitution.
