Ecuadoran president Rafael Correa is questioning the independence of some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country, accusing them of receiving funding from the U.S. international development agency, USAID. Among the organizations Correa is accusing are the Andean Foundation for the Observation and Study of Media (FUNDAMEDIOS in Spanish) and the movement Citizen Participation, both of which have been critical of the president's communications policies, reported the newspaper Opinión.
The Chilean prosecutor's office has dropped the "public disorder" charges against photographer Marcela Rodríguez, who was working with the indigenous Mapuche digital newspaper Mapuexpress. Rodríguez had been arrested during a protest May 13, reported Liwenmapu.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has condemned the boycott against a newspaper in Colombia and the attempted raid on a daily in Argentina, which come amidst the growing number of incidents of aggression against the press in Latin America and somber reports about the future of freedom of expression in the region.
The announcement that the Chilean government will begin to monitor comments on social networks has prompted controversy among Facebook and Twitter users and sparked a debate about Internet privacy.
The government of El Salvador has announced a plan to make state television and radio broadcasters autonomous public media with the aim of preventing the outlets from being used to serve ruling political interests, reported the news agency AFP.
Amidst the new wave of violence against the Mexican press, including the killing of two journalists in two weeks, the discovery of a journalist's body in a secret grave, and the kidnapping of a reporter, journalists and press freedom organizations are doubting whether freedom of expression truly exists in Mexico.
Two Mexican journalists who risk their lives covering the illegal drug trade along the U.S.-Mexico border will receive the 2011 Knight International Journalism Award, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) announced June 22.
The award-winning Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, who writes the blog Generation Y, has published a book about how to maintain a blog under conditions as adverse as those that independent journalists face in Cuba.
The Attorney General of Colombia has accused a former deputy chief of the secret police of instigating the murder of journalist and humorist Jaime Garzón, perpetrated by the paramilitary almost twelve years ago, reported El Heraldo.
After publishing a story on drug dealing in an Uruguayan prison, La República newspaper reporter Víctor Carrato received emailed threats, Montevideo Portal reports.