A journalist and her ex-boyfriend were shot to death at a gas station in the Brazilian coastal city of Vila Velha, in Espírito Santo, the morning of Saturday, Nov. 19, according to Folha Vitória.
A radio announcer was stabbed and beaten in the Bolivian city of El Alto, close to the capital city of La Paz, on Nov. 15, according to the newspaper Crónica Viva.
With President Dilma Rousseff's signature on Friday, Nov. 18, Brazil became the 89th country in the world to approve a freedom of information law, reported the Forum of Public Information Access. The law, which guarantees public access to government data and documents as well as private entities that receive public funding, will take effect in six months.
Union workers threw rocks at a television station and attacked reporters in Puerto Madryn in Argentine Patagonia on the evening of Nov. 16, according to Clarín.
Com a sanção da presidente Dilma Rousseff nesta sexta-feira, 18 de novembro, o Brasil passou a ser o 89º país do mundo a ter uma lei de acesso à informação pública, comemorou o Fórum de Acesso a Informações Públicas. A regra, que garante o acesso de qualquer interessado a dados e documentos de todas as esferas da administração pública e de entidades privadas que recebam recursos públicos, entrará em vigor em seis meses.
Human Rights Watch asked the Ecuadorian government to repeal all insult and defamation laws against public officials, the New York-based human rights organization announced.
Distribution of the newspaper El Financiero has been temporarily suspended after two employees for the Mexican newspaper were reported missing on Nov. 15, in the state of Zacatecas, according to El Espectador.
Faring about on par with Asia, better than Africa but worse than Europe, only about 38 percent of countries in Latin America were fully responsive to freedom of information requests filed by the Associated Press (AP) as part of a 105-country-wide project, the AP told the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. In general, more than half of countries don't abide by their freedom of information laws, MediaBistro noted.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF in French) asked on Nov. 15 for the immediate release of the editor of the 6to Poder, Leocenis García. García has been jailed since Aug. 30, and has been on a hunger strike since Nov. 9.
Moradores da reserva forestal El Choré, na Bolívia oriental, e partidários do prefeito local destruíram os equipamentos de uma rádio comunitária e do Canal 8 de televisão em retaliação a denúncias sobre supostos atos de corrupção de funcionários da prefeitura, informou IFEX.
Inhabitants of the El Choré forest reserve in the eastern part of Bolivia, who are sympathetic to the local mayor, attacked and dismantled equipment at the Radio Comunitaria and Canal 8 television station in response to accusations of corruption the broadcasters made against the mayor, reported IFEX.
Journalist and mayor of the city of Londrina in the Brazilian state of Paraná, Homero Barbosa Neto, has demanded the removal of a political cartoon published on a blog criticizing the city government, reported Blog do Esmael.