The governor of the central-western state of Mato Gross, Silval Barbosa, asked the press to not publish negative stories about the progress of development projects for the 2014 World Cup, which will be held in Brazil, Olhar Direto reports.
In Bolivia’s three largest cities, 92% of journalists say that freedom of expression is under threat in the county, according to May 8 survey of 200 journalists, FMBolivia reports.
Journalists at Radio Victoria in El Salvador received new death threats from an “extermination group” that has targeted the broadcaster since 2006, Prensa de Frente reports.
Valdir Cardoso, the Brazilian journalist responsible for the site O Jornal MS, is denouncing the way a judicial order to confiscate one of his videos was carried out, according to the digital newspaper Midiamax. The video in question is about a supposed corruption case involving government officials from the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
A group of nearly 100 individuals attacked a car driven by journalist Jaime Althaus, who works for the El Comercio-owned Canal N TV, Peru.com reports.
The votes still are being counted, but Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa has claimed victory in a nationwide vote on 10 issues ranging from a bullfighting ban to the creation of a panel to regulate media content, CNN reports. Both the government and the opposition have suggested that there were irregularities during in the Saturday, May 7, vote, local media outlets report.
The Supreme Court found six former Navy officers guilty for their involvement in the abduction and execution of journalist Jaime Aldoney on Sept. 12, 1973, the day following the Chilean coup that installed a 17-year military dictatorship, AFP reports.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has expressed concern over the "deterioration" of freedom of the press in Argentina, and accused the administration of Argentine President Cristina Fernández of executing a strategy of information control reported the Associated Press.
In a study launched Monday, May 2, Freedom House classified Brazil as only “partially free” and placed it as the 90th in the world for press freedom and only 22nd (out of 35) in the Americas. What is helping drive this relatively low ranking is the use of the courts to harass journalists.
Colombian journalist Gonzalo Guillén’s computer and a hard disk with more than 15 years of work were stolen from his home in Bogotá towards the end of April, the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) reports.
In a talk to commemorate World Press Freedom Day on May 3, Brazil’s UNESCO representative, Vincent Defourny, called for the passage of a stalled public information access law, G1 reports.
On May 3, media workers all over Latin American used World Press Freedom Day to denounce violence against reporters and media outlets and to demand protection, as new reports showed that the region has become one the most dangerous in the world to practice journalism. Press Freedom Day was also marred by the news that two journalists, one in Brazil and another in Peru, were shot to death in separate incidents.