On Monday, April 30, the International Press Institute (IPI) condemned the recent series of verbal and physical attacks on journalists in Argentina, Honduras, and Panamá, allegedly by politicians.
In a statement given to journalists, one of the guerrilla members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC in Spanish) confirmed that the FARC is holding French journalist Roméo Langlois as a war prisoner, reported the radio station Radio Caracol.
A Chilean journalist was arrested when trying to cover a fire at a plastic factory in the Huechuraba community, north of Santiago, Chile, reported the newspaper La Nación.
For the second time this month, a Colombian journalist was shot to death; this time in Sabanalarga, in the state of Atlántico, Colombia, reported The Associated Press. Journalist Jesús Martínez, a community radio reporter in Sabanalarga, was killed Thursday, March 29.
The Supreme Court of San Martín in Tarapoto, Peru, voided a journalist's prison sentence for defamation against a local mayor, reported the news site Crónica Viva.
Authorities accused a Chilean radio journalist of inciting a "climate of violence" in the area of Aysén, Chile, where protests are frequent, according to a report from the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC).
During an interview in Spain, Ecuadoran president Rafael Correa questioned the funding of the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), reported the newspaper La Hora. "Do you know who funds Human Rights Watch, is it the Sisters of Charity, the Sinaloa Cartel?" Correa said to the Spanish journalist who was interviewing him.
A young man confessed to killing Colombian journalist and political leader Argemiro Cárdenas Agudelo, and said that he was offered about $1,000 for the crime, which occurred on Thursday, March 15, reported the newspaper El Universal.
On Wednesday, March 7, a group of pro-government Argentine newspapers launched the Federal Association of Publishers of Argentina (AFERA in Spanish) as an alternative to the group Association of Newspaper Entities in Argentina (ADEPA in Spanish), reported the newspaper Perfil.
Reporters Without Borders criticized police violence against local and international journalists covering protests in Chile, and expressed concern for the safety of journalists in a statement released Monday, March 19.