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Colombia: The Case of J.J. Rendón, ‘he who can't be named’

· Written by Lully Translated by Silvia Viñas

Categories: Latin America, Colombia, Citizen Media, Digital Activism, Freedom of Speech, Politics, Technology

Tomáz Garzía, a Colombian blogger and cartoonist, revealed through his blog Mundo desgrafiado [es] [1] that he had received an email from the legal representative of [2]Mr. Juan José Rendón [3] (better known as J.J Rendón) who asked him to delete the content from the blog Claroscuro [es] [4] where Tomáz refers to J.J. Rendón and his participation in this year's presidential elections [5] in Colombia. Wikipedia in Spanish [es] [6] describes J.J Rendón as,

un publicista y psicólogo venezolano. Se presenta como estratega y consultor general. Ha escrito libros sobre rumorología. Es conocido en todo América Latina como el ‘rey de la propaganda negra, de la desinformación, del rumor como arma de propaganda política.’

a Venezuelan publicist and psychologist. He introduces himself as a strategist and general consultant. He has written books on rumor mill. [7] He is known throughout Latin America as the ‘king of black propaganda [8], of disinformation, of rumor as a weapon of political propaganda’

Regarding his participation in this year's presidential elections in Colombia, Wikipedia in Spanish explains,

Rendón regresó al país en el año 2010. Esta vez lo hizo como jefe de la marchita campaña del exministro y candidato presidencial Juan Manuel Santos, unas semanas antes de la votación del 30 de mayo. […] Pese a la cantidad de comentarios negativos acerca de Rendón, la campaña de Santos repunto en las encuestas y la estrategia del venezolano lo llevo (a Santos) a obtener en las urnas más de 9 millones de votos.

Rendón returned to the country in 2010. This time as the manager of the withering campaign of former minister and presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos, a few weeks before the vote of May 30. […] Despite the quantity of negative comments about Rendón, the Santos campaign rocketed in the polls and the strategies of the Venezuelan led him (Santos) to obtain 9 million votes.

The email released by Tomáz Garzía [es] [9] in his blog says that his actions constitute a violation of copyright, since he used the registered image of J.J. Rendón, who in this case Tomáz calls “he who can't be named.”

[9]

Cartoon by Tomáz Garzia. Cartoon reads: "Note: Some faces in this cartoon have been covered because they violate rules related to copyright. All silencers and black robes are a product of the author's imagination and are in no way related to reality." Image used under an Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 Colombia Creative Commons license

Alternative media like Equinoxio [es] [10], Twitter users [es] [11] and bloggers are sharing their opinion on the issue, emphasizing the right of freedom of expression.

Maritza Sánchez (@ColoresMari) [12] says on Twitter:

Resulta que no se pueden utilizar los sustantivos propios, a riesgo de ser demandado…

Apparently you can't use proper nouns, because of the risk of getting sued…

On Twitter, user @raigohead [13] says:

Con – El silenciador del Señor Innombrable – Se confirma que no se puede hablar de cierto “mafiosos” mediáticos…

With -The silencer, he who can't be named- it is confirmed that you can't talk about certain “mafia” media personalities…

Julián Ortega (@Julianortegam [14]) writes:

(…) ahora resulta que J. J. Rendón es una ‘marca registrada’ y no se puede rajar de él.

(…) now it looks like J.J Rendón is a ‘registered brand’ and you can't mess with him

Moriz Jakobsen (@Oyerista) [15] warns his Twitter followers:

¡Pilas! te puede llegar un mail del abogado de JJ © por cuenta de tu blog.

Watch out! you might get an email from the lawyer of JJ © through the account on your blog.

Camilo Andrés Suárez (@Kami_an) [16] says:

JJRENDON vs Blogueros de Colombia, interesante batalla, unos por su “prestigio” y otros por la “libertad de expresión”

JJRENDON vs Colombian bloggers, interesting battle, some [fighting] for their “prestige” and others for “freedom of expression”
[17]

Cartoon by Xtian in support of Tomáz, used with Xtian's permission

In a comment on Tomáz’ post titled “The silencer, he who can't be named [es],” [9] Filipos [es] [18] offers his support:

Sólo puedo decir que, sean cuales sean las pretensiones de los actuantes (que no parecen las mejores), no hay que dejarse intimidar.

I can only say that, whatever the intentions may be of those involved (which don't seem to be the best), you must not let them intimidate you.

Juancho H. in the blog La Lámpara de Diógenes, after a brief introduction and a summary, ends like this [es]: [19]

Ah, por cierto… si al señor J.J. Rendón le duele que hablen mal de él, quizá debería observar su forma de proceder, agresivo contra principios democráticos, antes de andar exigiendo algo que él suele desconocer.

Oh, by the way… if Mr. J.J. Rendón is hurt because people talk bad about him, maybe he should look at his actions, aggressive against democratic principles, before he demands something he usually does not give.

The blogger under the pseudonym Blueandtanit amplifies the information and shows us Google's cache [es] [20] of the post Tomáz wrote on the Venezuelan publicist. [The cache shows a cartoon of Rendón made by Tomáz, and a link to the whole post which is no longer available]. At the end of her post, the blogger concludes [es]: [21]

Desde este blog quiero manifestar mi solidaridad con Tomáz, ojalá pueda seguir haciéndonos sonreir con sus caricaturas gráficas y escritas y ojalá la libertad de prensa y de expresión sea un motivo de unión de blogueros y twitteros, esto le puede pasar a cualquiera, a cualquier bloguero, twittero, medio independiente.

From this blog I want to show my solidarity with Tomáz, I hope he can keep making us smile with his cartoons and his words and hopefully freedom of the press and of expression will be a reason for unity among bloggers and Twitter users, this can happen to anyone, any blogger, Twitter user, independent media.

In the blog Tutor Virtual, Carlos Arturo Gamboa shares an analysis and calls on other bloggers to act [es] [22]:

Ante esta amenaza y otras menos visibles, como las interferencias, bloqueos y chuzadas a las cuentas de los blogueros, la comunidad no puede permanecer impávida; bueno al menos la comunidad virtual, porque la “otra” demostró en Colombia que puede vivir con peores atrocidades como las chuzadas del DAS, las masacres y la parapolítica. Invito entonces a que rede-licemos este hecho, a que desde nuestros escasos escenarios de libertad [10]renunciemos al silencio y que en un frente común, desde estos espacios y desde todos los que puedan crear e imaginar, no sólo repudiemos el acto, sino que afilemos nuestras “plumas virtuales” para defender el derecho a Decir, es decir, a Pensar.

Faced with this threat and others that are less visible, like interferences, blocks and hacking blogger accounts, the community cannot remain impassive: well at least not the virtual community, because the “other” one showed that in Colombia they can live with the worst interventions from the department of security, the massacres and the para-politics. I invite you to “webisize” this case, that from our limited scenarios of freedom [es] [10] we give up our silence and with a common goal, from these spaces and from all spaces you can create and image, we not only repudiate the act, but also sharpen our ‘virtual pens’ to defend the right to Say, in other words, to Think.

Nicolás from Diario Nocturno, one of the oldest blogs from Colombia, reports on how he has been a victim [es] [23] of these kind of messages:

Con cada vez más frecuencia los bloggers colombianos recibimos cartas con intención de censura con el intimidante nombre de solicitudes de “cese y desista”, que no son más que amenazas previas a acciones judiciales más severas con la intención de hacernos morir del susto y retirar contenidos que incomodan a alguien por los motivos que sean. El argumento de “no quiero que hable de mí o de mi marca” se mimetiza con “usted no es propietario de los derechos de mi marca y si la vuelve a nombrar nos veremos en un juzgado.”

With more and more frequency Colombian bloggers receive letters intending to censor them with the intimidating name of requests to “cease and desist,” which are no more than threats preceding more severe legal actions with the intention to scare us so we remove the content that is making someone uncomfortable for whatever reason. The argument of ‘I don't want you to talk about me or about my brand’ merges with ‘you are not the owner of the rights to my brand and if you name it again I will see you in court’

J.J. Rendón responded in the comments section of an article on the issue posted in [10]Equinoxio [es] [10]. In his first comment [es] [24] Rendón explains:

Ud puede nombrarme cuantas veces quiera;lo que no deberìa es difamar sin pruebas ni sustento.volverse un replicador de difamaciones de otros *libres difamadores de la web* y sentirse impune.Las opiniones se respetan sì,pero no pueden considerarse opiniones inofensivas o simples aquellas que solo buscan dañar,discriminar,exponer al ataque pùblico o descalificar descarnadamente.Ya no es mi abogado si no YO quien le escribo reclamandole respeto,informaciòn veraz,objetividad y dejar de usar mi nombre calumniandome.
Atte
J.J.Rendòn

You can name me as many times as you'd like; what you should not do is defame without proof or support. Become a replicator of slander of other *free slanderers on the web* and think you are immune to punishment. Opinions are respected, but they can't be considered inoffensive or simple opinions when they are only looking to cause damage, discriminate, create a public attack or starkly disqualify. Now it is not my lawyer but I who write to you asking for respect, truthful information, objectivity and to stop using my name for slander.
Sincerely,
J.J.Rendón

In a second comment [es] [25] a few minutes later, Rendón clarifies his point:

Le aclaro que no es mi intenciòn silenciar a nadie;ya estoy acostubrado a este tipo de ataques sin embargo me siento no solo con el derecho sino con el deber de al menos tratar de dejar clara mi posiciòn al respecto.
J.J.Rendòn

I clarify that it is not my intention to silence anyone; I am used to these kind of attacks but I feel that I not only have the right but the obligation to at least try to clarify my position on this issue.
J.J.Rendón