Public relations professionals are struggling trying to work in the field because of the incredible amount of restrictions the Venezuelan government enforces in all organizations.
"Alternative views are not encouraged in Venezuela, which makes it difficult for practitioners and their organizations to approach the public relations profession from a Western perspective – a definition that assumes plurality as granted and access to competing voices and ideologies. Media relations, for instance, has become more challenging in this South American country because less media access to corporate news is available. News coverage constantly reports daily negative political and economic events to a large extent," (Molleda, 2010).
The last protests that took place all over the country were more of a public relations threat to Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, than a major risk for his administration.
Thanks to P.R. there's been a tremendous amount of success in showing the world that the Venezuelan government is oppressing its opponents and this is making the government look bad. Which is why, on Feb. 12th of this year, while several protests were happening in the country, Twitter was shut down.
" said the Venezuelan government blocked users’ online images as opposition groups marched through Caracas for a third day, demonstrating against record shortages and the world’s fastest inflation," (Laya, Frier, Kurmanaev, 2014 ). Twitter Inc. (TWTR)
Like what happened in 2004, when former Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez's administration fired everyone working in the PDVSA oil company, who signed a petition for a referendum to remove him from the presidency. "In the aftermath of a contentious 2004 referendum to recall Chávez from the presidency, some government officials blacklisted those who called for the removal of Chávez from government jobs, contracts, and services," ("A Decade Under Chávez", 2008). Chavez gave permission to his campaign manager, Luis Tascón, "to obtain copies of the forms with over three million signatures in support of the recall referendum," ("A Decade Under Chávez", 2008). More than 3,000 people were fired from their jobs after that list was published. I remember the exact moment when Chávez announced on national television the name of every single person who was being fired for signing that petition.
As a result of all of this, public relations professionals are "self-censoring their views in an effort to avoid taking positions or to be identified with the government or opposition groups, and to maintain their organizational equilibrium, survival, and to ease political polarization," (Molleda, 2010). They have to watch every word used in publications, campaigns and events.
It is impossible to practice REAL public relations in a country where citizens do not have freedom of speech nor freedom of information. Public Relations professionals in Venezuela have been forced to change their priorities when it comes to their career, from establishing beneficial relations and truthful communication between their organizations and its audiences, to being biased and always favoring the government's owned organizations in order to survive and keep their jobs.
References:
A Decade Under Chávez. (2008, September 1). Retrieved September 11, 2014, from http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/venezuela0908/2.htm
Laya, P., Frier, S., & Kurmanaev, A. (2014, February 14). Venezuelans Blocked on Twitter as Opposition Protests Mount. Retrieved September 10, 2014, from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-14/twitter-says-venezuela-blocks-its-images-amid-protest-crackdown.html
Molleda, J. (2010, January 1). Venezuelan Government’s Political Revolution Coerces Public Relations to be Strategic. Retrieved September 10, 2014, from http://www.ipra.org/itl/10/2008/venezuelan-government-s-political-revolution-coerces-public-relations-to-be-strategic