The public television provider stopped broadcasting its signal on channel 778.
International news network Russia Today (RT) denounced that Ecuador’s public television operator took it off the air without providing reasons.
The broadcast was cut off on Thursday without any prior notice or explanation. The National Telecommunications Corporation’s only comment was to tell its customers that the channel 778, which was the one carrying RT Spanish, is not included in the package anymore, and offer three sports channels instead.
In October, during massive protests against President Lenin Moreno’s austerity measures, the RT network broadcasted live what was happening in Ecuador.
On that occasion, Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo blamed RT for the increased level of “violence” President Lenin Moreno faced in the media field during the massive protests that gripped the country.
“It is striking that protests were broadcasted live on the Russian government’s public channel,” Romo said and specified that RT made coverage of “everything that was happening on the streets.”
The Ecuadorian government’s decision to cut the RT off the air surprised even the Russian company’s local journalists and anchors.
“I am capable of understanding either people or governments do not agree with one outlet or another. However, the media exist to generate public opinion. That is called pluralism and consists of being able to get information from different sources to draw conclusions. Censorship is not the way,” Fernando Terranova, the RT anchor in Ecuador, said.
Sources: RT, teleSUR, Pichincha Universal.
Be the first to comment