Puerto Rico: PEN condemns attacks and smear campaign against writer and journalist Sandra Rodríguez Cotto
30 August: Threats and a long-running smear campaign against writer and investigative reporter, Sandra Rodríguez Cotto exemplify the climate of hostility in which journalists work in Puerto Rico, PEN International said today. PEN condemns the attacks against Rodriguez, aimed at silencing her journalistic work.
Since 2017, Puerto Rican writer and journalist Sandra Rodríguez Cotto has been the target of multiple attacks, harassment, public harassment and campaigns that follow a pattern of hate speech on social and public media. The aim of these attacks is to undermine Rodríguez's work and that of other investigative journalists in Puerto Rico, particularly those working on issues of corruption, public resources and environmental injustices.
"Gender-based, racial and other violence aimed at damaging the reputation, credibility and work of journalists call for urgent and systematic action by the government of Puerto Rico to protect media workers on the island. The authorities must act immediately to protect reporters from hate speech and smear campaigns, which harm the exercise of freedom of expression and access to information essential foundations of a democratic society," said Romana Cacchioli, Executive Director of PEN International.
Between 21 June and 28 July 2022, in a new wave of harassment, the address of Rodríguez’s residence was publicly revealed. The use of racist language and calls for violent actions were promoted against her and her family by public figures in Puerto Rico. These included calls to damage their property, potentially placing the journalist and her family at grave risk.
On 21 July, as part of a series of public messages she received consecutively through public media, Sandra Rodríguez was sent a warning of a lawsuit by a former public official in an attempt to intimidate her and silence her investigations. The alleged lawsuit turned out to be false.
PEN Puerto Rico denounced just over a month ago the harassment, mistreatment and humiliation experienced by prominent writer and PEN Puerto Rico member Sandra Rodríguez Cotto. "It is neither tolerable nor acceptable that a person who gets up every day to write seriously and responsibly should be exposed to this campaign of media destruction, which does not respond to any principle of investigative journalism. The practice of harassing writer Rodríguez Cotto is already bordering on an act of political persecution, with dire consequences for freedom of expression and information in the country," said Daniel Nina, President of PEN Puerto Rico, on behalf of the Board of Directors.
Organisations in defence of freedom of expression, such as the Puerto Rican Journalists Association (Asppro), documented the aggressions and the danger that the Puerto Rican journalist and writer finds herself, and denounced that such actions violate the regulations of the Federal Communications Agency (FCC) of the United States. In addition to using racist language against the journalist, "neither Sandra nor any other person deserves the mockery and epithets used by this character," they added. The campaign and the personal data revealed have put Sandra Rodríguez in danger, a situation that has been repeated with other journalists, mainly women and LGBTIQ+ persons.
PEN International and PEN Puerto Rico call on the Puerto Rican authorities to:
Guarantee the right to freedom of expression and information, and the necessary protections for Puerto Rican journalists and writers;
Stop the attacks, threats, intimidation and legal harassment of critical and independent journalists;
Uphold its international human rights obligations on civil and political rights, including the protection of free speech, media freedoms and freedom of expression