With violence, political unrest and impunity increasingly taking hold of Latin America, freedom of expression is constantly being violated in Central American countries, with journalists being threatened, attacked, intimidated, kidnapped, tortured and killed for political, monetary, criminal and ideological motivations.
On Wednesday, Feb. 8, CNN indefinitely suspended commentator Roland Martin for homophobic tweets he sent during the Super Bowl, reported the Washington Post.
Several freedom of information groups were outraged at a proposed reform to Guatemala's access to information law, which would make diplomatic and military documents confidential, reported the Guatemalan Center for Investigative Reporting.
A reporting crew from the Venezuelan newspaper Últimas Notícias was detained by the Bolivarian Militia in a hospital in the capital, Caracas, on Feb. 8, reported the website Clases de Periodismo.
Brazilian political journalist Mário Randolfo Marques Lopes was killed in the early hours of Feb. 9, in the city of Barra do Piraí, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, along with his girlfriend, reported Diário do Vale. Known for criticizing authorities in the region on his website Vassouras na Net (Vassouras Online), Lopes survived an attempt on his life at his home in July of last year.
Two Ecuadoran journalists have been ordered to pay President Rafael Correa $2 million in moral damages for writing the book "El Gran Hermano" (Big Brother), according to the Associated Press. Juan Carlos Calderón and Christian Zurita wrote the book about the supposed contracts that Fabricio Correa, brother to the president, has with the state.
A former Ecuadorean journalist facing prison and millions of dollars in fines is seeking asylum in the United States, reported the Associated Press on Wednesday, Feb. 8.
In the early morning of Feb. 8, a fire destroyed part of the offices of the Brazilian newspaper Folha do Boqueirão in the city of Curitiba, Paraná, reported the website Bonde News.
Editors of a magazine in the tourist city of Cancún, Mexico, claimed that their publication was pirated on Feb. 5 in violation of the press law, the rights of the authors, and industrial property laws, according to NotiSureste.
An ex-paramilitary member in Colombia was sentenced to 24 years and two months in prison for killing journalist Álvaro Alonso Escobar 10 years ago, reported the Foundation for a Free Press.
Brazilian journalist Valdeck Filho was fired from the TV Aratu police program "In the Crosshairs" on Feb. 3, after declaring his support for the military police strike in the state of Bahia, reported the website Observador Político.
The Bolivian government announced that it will not move forward with a new press law but that it does intend to "bring the work of the press and journalism into line with the new Constitution," reported the television channel Eju TV.