Brazil's ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized the "opinion makers" for trying to create differences between his government and that of his successor, President Dilma Rousseff, reported Estado de S. Paulo. Lula made the remarks at an event commemorating 31 years of the Workers Party (PT) on Feb. 10.
In its 28 edition, the King of Spain International Journalism Prizes has recognized the work of Argentine Diana Fernández Irusta; Colombians José Enrique Guarnizo, Waldir Ochoa Guzmán and Víctor Hugo Deossa; and Mexican Daniel Aguilar Rodríguez, reported the news agency EFE. The awards are among the most prestigious given to Ibero-American journalists.
The Cuban government has lifted access restrictions on the more than 40 of the country’s dissent bloggers’ websites, continuing the apparent drawdown in attacks against the opposition, which included the release of political prisoners last year, the Miami Herald reports.
Ten people in Colombia, including three journalists, have been threatened in a pamphlet allegedly signed by the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, according to the Freedom of the Press Foundation (FLIP in Spanish), which condemned the death threats.
Seven journalists were killed in Colombia in 2010, and total attacks on the media were almost double the number that occurred over the previous four years combined, says the annual report of the Colombian Federation of Journalists (Fecolper).
Award-winning journalist Carmen Aristegui accused the Mexican government of pushing for her dismissal after she asked President Felipe Calderón to clarify whether he had alcohol problems, BBC reports.
A journalist investigating human rights violations committed during the Uruguayan dictatorship (1973-1985) received a “veiled threat” Feb. 7, when his personal information was published on Facebook, La República reports.
Haitian journalist Jean Richard Louis Charles was shot to death on the street in the Haitian capital city of Port-au-Prince, The Associated Press reports.
Journalists from A Tarde, one of the most important newspapers in the northeastern state of Bahia, went on strike to protest the firing of reporter Aguirre Peixoto, UOL Notícias reports.
Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas founder Rosental Calmon Alves will be recognized for his academic and journalistic contributions at the Brazilian Investigative Journalism Association's (ABRAJI) sixth annual International Investigative Journalism Congress in July.
The Venezuelan government said the private sector continues to control media in the country, El Universal reports, in spite of its efforts to restrict print, broadcast, and digital content.
When it comes to Twitter followers of Mexican newspapers, El Universal is the top bird with nearly half a million followers. Coming in at a distant second and third are Milenio and Reforma, with 148,077 and 101,567 followers, respectively.