Very few violations of press freedom are reported in the Cape Verde archipelago. But there is little diversity of news as the state maintains its television monopoly.

The ruling African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) continues to control the main privately-owned news media so, although the country enjoys true press freedom, news reporting lacks diversity. Aside from a few newspapers and one or two radio stations, reporting is rather insipid and criticism of the government is limited. Journalists in the state-owned media have little room for manoeuvre and there is considerable self-censorship by the privately-owned media.

A journalist physically attacked

Former agriculture minister José Manuel Pinto Monteiro struck journalist José Mário Correia in the face on 27 February 2002 when they went to the courthouse in Praia for the hearing of a libel lawsuit Monteiro had brought against Correia. A former reporter for the weekly A Semana and presidential press adviser, Correia had written an article implicating Monteiro in the allegedly fraudulent financing of the Caixa Economica bank. The court dismissed the lawsuit.

Pressure and obstruction

The director of the state-owned national television station, Maria Rosario da Luz, was dismissed by the station's board of governors on 12 August 2002 on the grounds of "tense relations" with both the station's staff and the board.

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