Ecuador rejects media warnings on freedom of speech

QUITO, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Ecuadorian government on Tuesday rejected warnings by the Inter-American Press Society (SIP) of "aggressions" against the freedom of speech in the country.

Ecuadorian Secretary of Communication Fernando Alvarado said the SIP did not have "moral authority" to make such statements.

"No journalist or media in Ecuador can be said to have been threatened by the government," Alvarado said.

The criticism of certain media by the government of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa does not mean "a threat to the freedom of speech" but "enriches the democracy of the information," he said.

He said the SIP sought "to protect their private business of communication management, because they represent the economic and political interests of big media businesses."

Alvarado said Ecuador presented to the SIP in October evidence of what the government considered "abuses of the press," adding that a communication law was necessary to "protect the citizens, journalists and to guarantee the access to information."

The Ecuadorian government would boost "a vision of respect without conditions for the freedom of speech and democratization of citizens' right to exercise it," he said.