The country's biggest media outlet announced that it would not report on the disappearance of former presidential candidate Diego Fernández de Cevallos until the investigation has concluded, drawing criticism from media and security experts, CNN México reports. (See articles in English by The Christian Science Monitor and the Associated Press.)
President Barack Obama is hosting his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderón this week on an official state visit to Washington that includes talks on bilateral issues such as immigration and drug violence on the U.S.–Mexico border. The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the leaders to put Mexico’s press freedom crisis on their agenda.
President Barack Obama signed a law this week requiring the State Department to monitor press freedom in all countries and to identify those governments that commit violations, The New York Times reports.
As part of an offensive against the black market for dollars, President Hugo Chávez urged supporters to use Twitter to blow the whistle on currency speculators and warned that illegal trading sites could be shut down the Associated Press reports.
An appeals court ruled that blogger Dania García would have to pay a $14 fine instead of serving a 20 month prison term for a family dispute, The Associated Press reports.
The offices of Televisa’s Canal 2 in Tepic, Nayarit (on Mexico’s central Pacific coast) were attacked with AK-47s and grenades, La Jornada reports. The facilities suffered damage, but neither of the two people in the offices were wounded, Europa Press adds. (See this Associated Press article in English.)
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) reports that its delegation will discuss alleged irregularities in the sale of América TV, the cancellation of radio station La Voz de Bagua's broadcast license, and crimes against journalists during its May 20-21 visit.
In the first episode of a special series about violence against Mexican journalists in regions dominated by drug trafficking, CNN Mexico reports that 27 reporters have been threatened in Morelos state alone in central Mexico.
Tim Padgett reports in Time Magazine that two gunmen opened fire on Lucas Manzanares, a close aide to the publisher of one of Honduras’ leading newspapers, sparing him and his wife, who were driving in his pickup truck, but killing his daughter and granddaughter.
The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) invites community radio journalists and citizen reporters from Latin America and Spanish-language radio reporters in the United States to apply for two online training courses about digital media tools, IJNet reports.