In a statement, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized the Ecuadorian government for "flagrantly" distorting information about what was discussed during a meeting between HRW and the National Communication Secretary of Ecuador, Fernando Alvarado, where freedom of expression in the country was debated.
A Paraguayan journalist said he received a death threat from Senator Robert Acevedo, reported the newspaper ABC Color on Friday, March 2. The senator denied the accusations, saying that it was an attempt to cause him political harm, added ABC Color.
After pardoning the journalists in a $40 million libel lawsuit against the newspaper El Universo, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa once again attacked the press, saying that in Latin America there exists a "media dictatorship" and that now is the time for "free citizens to rebel against this abuse," reported the news agency EFE.
After being offered asylum in Panama to avoid a $40 million libel lawsuit and three years in prison, one of the owners of the Ecuadoran newspaper El Universo, Carlos Pérez Barriga, arrived in Panama on Saturday, March 3, and met with the country's chancellor, Roberto Henríquez, reported the news agency Ansa Latina. Pérez had sought refuge in the Panamanian embassy in Quito, Ecuador, on Feb. 16.
The regional court in Cundinamarca, Colombia, upheld a criminal libel sentence against a Colombian journalist on Wednesday, Feb. 29, for publishing an editorial criticizing former governor and senator María Leonor Serrano de Camargo, reported the Press Freedom Foundation (FLIP in Spanish).
A Colombian activist and journalist who received death threats after uploading a video to YouTube showing police violence has decided to flee from his native city of Huila, Colombia, reported the Press Freedom Foundation (FLIP in Spanish).
A Chilean journalist was attacked by police while taking photos of a demonstration in support of residents of the region of Aysén in Santiago on Friday, Feb. 24, according to the Corporation of Promotion and Defense of the People's Rights (CODEPU in Spanish).
Guest post by Lise Olsen, Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE) board member from 2007-2011, and director of IRE-Mexico from 1996-1998. Twenty leading journalists gathered in Mexico City on Friday, Feb. 18, to exchange information and discuss ways that Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE) can continue to help reporters who, under pressure and often at great personal risk, continue to do investigative reporting on U.S.-Mexico border topics such as children victimized by cartel violence, wasteful government spendi
On Feb. 17th, more than 300 newsroom employees of the Philadelphia Media Network (PMN) signed a statement demanding that the journalistic integrity of their work be upheld as the network negotiates its sale with private investor groups, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer. The statement also expressed “dismay” that journalists’ coverage of the sale has been compromised and censored by corporate management, said Poynter and Politico.
Bolivia's National Press Association (ANP in Spanish) documented 200 cases of aggression against journalists in Bolivia in 2011, reported the news website Clases de Periodismo.