Since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985, Brazil has been known as a free country regarding free speech and access to information. Although both rights are guaranteed in the Constitution of 1988, there is a disturbing distance between the words written on paper and their implementation in practice.
With 108 out of 137 congressmen representing the ruling party, the new Organic Law on Communications was approved on Friday, June 14 by an overwhelming majority and without debating any of its provisions -- not even the ones that were added in the last moment.
The country in the Americas with the highest degree of press freedom may come to some as a surprise: according to Reporters Without Borders' 2013 Press Freedom Index, Jamaica holds the top spot.
In the last months, the term "passaralho" has been echoed throughout newsrooms in Brazil. This term for those fired from their jobs in the media has gained ground due to numerous cuts that the country's major dailies and magazines -- including O Estado de S. Paulo, Valor Econônomico, Folha de S. Paulo, and the Abril publishing house -- have announced since March.
Along with other citizens, several Brazilian journalists were attacked and arrested by the Military Police during the protests against the increase in bus fares in São Paulo, which began last week.
Journalists in Argentina had plenty to say last week about their sour relationship with the country's political leaders -- and the problems that threaten the profession from within.
Ecuador's National Assembly approved on Friday, June 14, the country's new Communications Law. The law, backed by President Rafael Correa, had 108 votes in favor, reported Spanish daily El Mundo.
José Roberto Ornelas de Lemos, director and son of the owner of the Brazilian daily Hora H -- which covers the Baixada Fluminense region in the state of Rio de Janeiro -- was killed with 44 gunshots in the city of Nova Iguaçu on the night of Tuesday, June 11, reported the news site Uol.
A group of cartoonists will participate on Friday, June 14, in an auction of political cartoons to benefit nine displaced Mexican journalists who currently live in refuge in Mexico City due to death threats.
The prohibition of the press from entering and covering the Venezuelan legislative body, which began a new session in February of this year. The situation, widely criticized by various organizations, is symptomatic of the tense state in which the country's media finds itself, even two months after elections put President Nicolás Maduro into power.
The Press Club of Mexico recognized on June 7, Freedom of Expression Day in Mexico, the work of Ana Lilia Pérez with the medal of "Defender of Freedom and Promoter of Progress"
On Wednesday, June 5, former President Hugo Chávez posthumously received the National Journalism Award Simón Bolívar, reported newspaper El Universal. Even though the award's jury celebrated Chávez for his "role in fighting lies and mediatic manipulation," the relationship between the former president and the country's private media outlets was always tense.