Ram?n B?ez Figueroa, leading shareholder of the Baninter bank under liquidation by the Central Bank, and its affiliated media, accused the government of intending to take over their media operations to assist the re-election campaign of President Hip?lito Mej?a. These allegations were made via the List?n Diario and El Expreso newspapers
Figueroa rejected the announcement of the takeover of the conglomerate?s media and said that the only authority that could order the take over the assets would be a competent judge, reports the List?n Diario.
?More than the property of a company, what is at stake at this time is freedom of the press, which is threatened not only by illegal, dictatorial and clumsy takeover, but by attempts to silence all media that may refer to the banking crisis in the country,? the newspaper states in an editorial published today on the front page of the List?n.
?They claim to adhere to alleged national security defenses to shut all, as regularly occurs in dictatorial regimes,? says the editorial.
?But what they really seek is to displace the legitimate owners of the control of the company, to use it as an instrument to manipulate information in favor of their short-term political interests, such as presidential re-election.?
The board of directors of the List?n Communication Group appointed Ram?n B?ez Romano, a highly respected businessman who is the father of Ram?n B?ez Figueroa, as chief executive of the media group.