Arias Calderón accuses cartoonist

by Willy Carrera Loza

For the alleged crime of defamation the president emeritus of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and former vice-president of Panama, Ricardo Arias Calderón, presented this past January 3 a complaint against a cartoonist and the editor-in-chief of La Prensa, and also demanded compensation of $1 million and a court interrogation of the members of the newspaper's board of directors. Arias Calderón accused cartoonist Julio Briceño (whose pen name is RAC) and editor Stanley Muschett of having gravely offended his dignity, honor and decorum.

The complaint is based on a cartoon that appeared in the December 30, 2000 edition, and which is currently available online in La Prensa's archive, accessible at http://www.sinfo.net/prensa/mensual.htm . The cartoon portrays the PDC-PRD legislative alliance (dubbed META by its participants) in terms of Arias Calderón walking with the Grim Reaper, and the Christian Democrats' party boss says that this directly and personally links him with murders committed by the defunct Guardia Nacional and more specifically with the clandestine graveyard found near the former Puma infantry barracks in Tocumen.

The criminal complaint and demand for monetary damages was given with as much fanfare as a small party can generate to Attorney General José Antonio Sossa, a former PDC legislator. In attendance, beside Arias Calderón and Sossa, were Teresita Yaniz de Arias, a legislator and Arias Calderón's wife; Rubén Arosemena, current PDC president and also a legislator; and Arias Calderón's lawyers, former PDC mayor of Panama City Willy Cochez, PDC activist and Legislative Assembly legal advisor Raúl Ossa, and Víctor Arosemena.

Arias Calderón instructed his attorneys to file along with the criminal complaint under the calumnia e injuria law a civil suit for $1 million against La Prensa, whose legal representative is the company's president Anabella Guardia de Rubinoff. This, Arias Calderón claims, is to compensate him for losses caused by the wounded honor of himself and his family.

"Now it's sufficient," Arias Calderón said. "They only understand the language of money, and not the language of honor," referring to the influential daily. He also asked Attorney General Sossa to impose travel restrictions on the defendants, which would prevent them from traveling outside Panama without a court's permission.

Arias Calderón also demanded that each of La Prensa's directors be called to personally testify, specifically naming Anabella de Rubinoff, Fernando Berguido, Alfredo Maduro, Federico Humbert, Juan Arias, Winston Robles, Ricardo Alberto Arias, Camilo Cardoze and Alvaro González Clare, whom he wants to face questions about the newspaper's editorial stands and policies.

"None of the present directors at La Prensa fought against the military dictatorship, nor ran the risks that I ran for Panamanian democracy, which means that none of them have the moral authority to suggest that I am associated with the crimes against which I fought," the plaintiff said. The ex-VP added that he challenges the directors to call a shareholders' meeting to take up the dispute, and that if they don't have the courage to do so, they should resign.

To Miguel Antonio Bernal, a law professor who was a constant thorn in the dictatorship's side, "it's incorrect, to say the least, to take whatever major or minor accomplishment in the fight against the dictatorship and try to use it as a shield against critics, especially against humor. I must remind Arias Calderón that we fought to restore democracy in the country, and that means freedom, pluralism and democracy, not an exchange of persecution by soldiers for persecution by neo-Torquemadas, today allied with the PRD, whom yesterday they say they fought."

Sandra Escorcia, who headed the Renovacion Civilista party before it lost ballot status in the 1999 election, said that "Ricardo Arias Calderón has every right to sue, because if he feels wronged, the law is there to assist him. We live in a democratic country." She noted, however, that "I don't think that the cartoon links him with the past. The cartoon is very much in the present ——— it clearly reflects a contemporary act, which is the union of the PRD and the PDC."

The cartoonist at the center of the storm, Julio Briceño, insisted that "it's necessary to clearly understand that we can't go on accepting double talk that, on the one hand, talks of democracy and human rights, and on the other, chews the bread of compromises and partisan interests with the ex-accomplices of tyranny."

"Cartoonists have the job of pulling off these masks, and if there are some politicians who can't take the grief, it’s better for them to retire or to dedicate themselves to some other pursuits," Briceño said.

Delmiro Quiroga, El Siglo's cartoonist, agreed that a person as sensitive as Arias Calderón shouldn't be a politician. "If he's bothered, he should take up another line of work," he said, adding that public figures "do many things to bother and inconvenience the citizenry, but cartoonists only reflect the feelings of the community."

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©2001 The Panama News