The Association of Latin Entertainment Critics of New York published Thursday and updated yesterday, at its official websites, a press release condemning Spanish RTVE's United States correspondent and bureau chief Almudena Ariza, asking RTVE's Ethics Department to "dismiss the correspondent and remove the correspondent from the US". The journalistic association said Ariza made "offensive insults and false accusations" against Spanish American filmmaker Artur Balder.

The New York-based journalistic association founded in 1967 is the oldest Latin press association in the United States. The press release is introduced by the president and founding member of the journalistic association, Fernando Campos, who was honored last month at his homeland the Dominican Republic with the Award of Journalistic Merit by Acroarte, the Association of Art Critics of the Dominican Republic.

According to the journalistic association, Ariza "sought directly to cause the greatest moral damages, based on the falsehood that the film and research on 'Little Spain' did not exist." Regarding the film Little Spain directed by Artur Balder, they note it is now available on DVD.

The journalistic association quote Ariza saying she "never would inform about the (director's) films, if case they would exist" to the Spanish audience. RTVE's potential audience is Spanish and Latin American, and is financially supported by Spanish taxpayers.

US correspondent Almudena Ariza reportedly gets a gross annual salary of almost 200,000 euros (around US$200,000), well above the average salary of RTVE's workers.

Source: Wikinews