The reelected president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, said the “big loser” of the election was the country’s private press when asked how it would figure in to his new mandate, said the newspaper El Universo. Correa said he would continue with the Communications Law because what the people want “is an honest and responsible press. Never with censorship, but with ulterior responsibility.”
A Mexican criminal organization is offering a reward for information about the administrator of a Facebook page and Twitter account, who over the last year has been reporting on violent crime in the state of Tamaulipas, one of the areas most affected by the country’s drug war, according to the magazine Proceso.
The São Paulo State Union of Professional Journalists denounced threats journalists received and other obstacles they faced while reporting in the interior of the state at the beginning of 2013, according to a statement form the organization on Feb. 13.
The website “Bananaleaks.com” accused the Ecuadorian government via Twitter of attempting to sabotage its operations, reported Fundamedios. According to journalist Santiago Villa, spokesperson for the website, the website suffered an attack from hackers early in the morning of Jan. 28, shortly after the organization published information about two Swiss bank accounts supposedly owned by President Rafael Correa, added Fundamedios.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC in Spanish) guerrillas postponed the Thursday, Feb. 14 release of two kidnapped police officers in the country, alleging persecution from the media, reported the newspaper El Colombiano. The ICRC delegate for southwestern Colombia, Angela Bertini, reported the news, according to the publication.
News of a possible government-led advertising "boycott" against the media caused uproar in Argentina, reported the news agency EFE.
A bill proposed in Honduras would create an organization to regulate media content, according to La Prensa.
The Brazilian National Federation of Journalists (FENAJ in Portuguese) filed a complaint with the Public Ministry in Sergipe on Feb. 8, regarding its criminal proceedings against journalist José Cristian Góes, which began at the end of January because of a fictional post on his blog for the Infonet website.
A few days before the presidential and parliamentarian elections in Ecuador, which will take place on Feb. 17, fears of lawsuits and other legal liabilities are holding back journalistic coverage.
Um extenso relatório do Comitê para a Proteção dos Jornalistas sobre a situação dos jornalistas no mundo em 2012 coloca Brasil e Equador entre os dez países com os piores cenários para a liberdade de imprensa e o México como o país com o maior número de jornalistas desaparecidos no mundo.
An exhaustive report from the Committee to Protect Journalists on the situation for journalists around the world placed Brazil and Ecuador among the top ten countries where press freedom suffered the most during 2012, and named Mexico as the country with the most missing journalists in the world.
Despite the first signs of activity from a massive fiber optic cable connecting Cuba and Venezuela three weeks ago, there appears to be little improvement in Internet access on the island, according to a report from Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez on the Committee to Protect Journalists' website.