On his Twitter account @jaarreaza, the Minister of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs, Jorge Arreaza, posted on Sunday a letter he sent to Chief Executive Officer of Agence France-Presse, Fabrice Fries, with some observations about its editorial line on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Foreign Minister Arreaza said that, unlike the case of German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), he received a serious, respectful response from the Paris-based news agency where they recognize some facts and claim they will talk to their staff to revise their contrast of information.
In his letter sent on February 10, the Venezuelan foreign minister complained AFP’s coverage of Venezuela “borders more on political propaganda and media attacks than on the good practice of journalism enshrined in its own editorial standards and best practices.”
This conclusion was drawn from an assessment of reports early this year that show an unbalanced coverage of facts.
“The agency’s treatment shows a combination of disinformation, unbalance reporting, faults in providing context, generalizations and stereotyping,” bashed Arreaza in his letter.
On this basis, Foreign Minister Arreaza urged AFP to thoroughly review information to avoid affecting the image of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and violating the Venezuelans’ right to responsible, truthful information.