The criminal court of Lima, Perú, began a new trial for the killing of a journalist, named Alberto Rivera, who was shot by hitmen in April 2004 after denouncing a mayor for corruption, according to La República.
Journalist and political activist Wilfred Iván Ojeda Peralta was found dead of a bullet wound to the head in the northern city of Revenga, Aragua, Reuters reported. Ojeda’s body was discovered Tuesday, May 17, 2011.
Multivisión (MVS), the same Mexican broadcaster that fired a journalist in February 2011 for commenting on opposition allegations that President Felipe Calderón was an alcoholic, has created an ombudsman position at the station, El Informador reports.
Reiterating statements by other organizations about the dangers the Latin American press faces, Amnesty International has issued a new report that names Latin America as one of the most dangerous regions in the world for journalists, according to CNN.
After a workshop on teaching border reporting held April 29-May 1 at the University of Arizona, journalism educators from nine U.S. colleges have joined forces to establish the Border Journalism Network/La Red de Periodismo de la Frontera, according to a University of Arizona statement.
With the Committee to Protect Journalists reporting 861 journalists killed in the line of duty since 1992, and another 145 in prison currently, YouTube has launched a journalist memorial video channel, according to ReadWriteWeb.
Márcio Pin and Otávio Alves, the owners of Tribuna do Estado and Vida Mídia newspapers, were arrested May 12 in Brasnorte, Mato Grosso, accused of attempting to extort the city’s mayor, Mauro Rui Heisler, Terra reports.
At an indigenous mass wedding attended by Bolivian President Evo Morales and several of his ministers, police forcefully expelled a journalist covering the May 7 event in La Paz, Opinión reports.
Six months after Chilean community radio station Radio Tentación in November 2010 was closed and its equipment seized, the station's members find themselves on trial for broadcasting without authorization, reported the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, or AMARC.
Journalists covering police protests in the Amazon-region city of Porto Velho, Rondônia on May 7 and 8 were threatened and harassed by several demonstrating officers, Rondoniaovivo reports.
Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli is organizing a national dialogue on freedom of expression, to be held on Saturday, May 14, 2011, in response to allegations of threats and abuse perpetrated by government officials against journalists, EFE reports.
Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, ordered the country's media to show more patriotism and support the government's strategy of bringing Chile before an international court in order to obtain access to the Pacific Ocean, according to El Deber.