On Saturday, July 28, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said that official government advertising will be withheld from several private news media outlets that have accused his administration of damaging freedom of expression in Ecuador.
The owner of a Brazilian community radio station in the city of Ilha das Flores (in the state of Sergipe) was absolved by a regional court after being sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail for operating the radio station without authorization.
Between 1999, when Hugo Chávez first became President of Venezuela, and June 2012, the country's television and radio stations have been forced to broadcast 2,334 president speeches, amounting to a total of 97,561 minutes of broadcasting.
A Brazilian journalist and photographer from the newspaper O Globo were threatened on July 23 by the mayor of the city of Redenção (in the state of Pará), Wagner Montes, who is also the candidate for reelection in 2012, reported O Globo.
A Colombian journalist went missing mid-day Tuesday, July 24, after being held by members of an illegally armed group in the department of Arauca, located in northeast Colombia, on the border with Venezuela.
A Brazilian bodyguard for José Serra, mayoral candidate in São Paulo, attacked a radio journalist during a press conference that took place on Tuesday, July 24, reported the news portal Terra.
On Sunday, July 29, the Brazilian newspaper O Globo will launch a new design for its printed edition, to commemorate 87 years of publishing, reported the news site Jornalistas na Web.
A chamber of the Peruvian Supreme Court decided to reduce the sentences of many members of the death squad, known as Grupo Colina that was active during the 90s in Peru, nullifying sentences for crimes against humanity in several cases, including the killing of journalist Pedro Yauri.
The Latin American Union of News Agencies (ULAN in Spanish) accused private news media outlets of provoking "small coups" in Latin America and also withdrew membership from the Paraguayan Information state news agency.
Brazilian reporter André Caramante, from the newspaper Folha de São Paulo, said that he received threats through Facebook after publishing an article with complaints against a former commander of the Tobias de Aguir Ostensible Rounds (ROTA in Portuguese).