A new documentary about Mexican activist Atilano Román Tirado, who was killed on-air in 2014 during his weekly radio show, is the first in a series of short films by Mexican directors showcased by The New York Times’ Op-Doc Series.
Once more, Colombian authorities are investigating threats against journalists and social leaders distributed via pamphlets and signed with the name of a criminal group.
A full-time reporter. That is how Elvira Lobato, one of the most award-winning and prestigious journalists in Brazil with 39 years dedicated to print journalism, described herself. Even after deciding to retire from Folha de São Paulo in 2011, where she was a special reporter and worked for 27 years, her “destiny” to investigate would not allow her to leave the field. In February, Lobato published a series of reports on television concessions in the Amazon in partnership with independent news site Agência Publica.
The driver of a former Paraguayan mayor is the first person to be convicted in the case of the murders of journalist Pablo Medina and his assistant Antonia Almada. His former boss, Vilmar Acosta Marques, is accused of masterminding Medina's murder.
In a report about human rights in Guatemala published on March 14, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed concern about attacks in recent months against journalists whose investigative work was related to corruption, public administration and human rights violations.
Guatemalan journalists have condemned the murder of a 32-year-old radio director in the country and called for renewed attention to the construction of a protection program for journalists.
UPDATE (3/21/16): A former Colombian paramilitary fighter accused in the May 2000 kidnap, torture and rape of journalist Jineth Bedoya Lima has been sentenced to 28 years in prison. Mario Jaimes Mejía, known as 'El Panadero,' accepted charges against him on Feb. 2. He was sentenced on March 18.
Due to a lack of newsprint, regional newspaper El Carabobeño in the state of Carabobo, Venezuela stopped circulating its print edition after 82 years. The paper reported the news in an editorial in which it qualified the event as a “blow to freedom.”
In 2015, Mexico saw one attack against journalists every 22 hours, making that year the most violent for the country’s press since 2009, according to an annual report from freedom of expression organization Article 19 Mexico. This violence, along with the pervasive impunity that follows, an unresponsive state, weak democracy and inaccessible protective agencies, have created a culture of fear among the country's journalists, the report said.
Since starting his new job, Paul Haven, the Associated Press’ new News Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, has overseen coverage on the lifting of restrictions on travel from the United States to Cuba, an interview with new Argentinian President Mauricio Macri and stories about the political crisis in Brazil that reaches the country’s top leaders.
Journalist David Romero Ellner, director of Honduran media outlets Radio Globo and Globo TV, was sentenced on March 14 to 10 years in prison for having committed six crimes of injuria and defamation against former public prosecutor Sonia Gálvez.
Activists and media workers in Guatemala fighting for the passage of a bill to protect the existence of community radio stations in the country are facing resistance from a media broadcasting association.