Reporters without Borders (RWB) regretted a fine imposed last Tuesday by a juvenile court on the evening newspaper Tal Cual and feared that it may be a political punishment.

"The open letter published by Laureano Márquez in Tal Cual did not contain any insult or assault on the daughter of President Hugo Chávez. When reading the article, there is nothing that can justify the penalty -a late one, incidentally- against Tal Cual. There is no crime at all," the organization said.

In the opinion of RWB, "there are many reasons to fear that this fine was a political account settlement." "It is not normal that the appeal made by the daily cannot prevent it from paying the fine."

On November 25th, 2005, Tal Cual released an open letter addressed to Rosinés, the younger daughter of President Chávez. The author, humorist Laureano Márquez, asked the child to make his father reasonable and more tolerant of the opposition.

The daily was sentenced to pay a fine of about USD 18,600.