The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, said he could not meet with a delegation from the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) that arrived in the country Monday, Oct. 18, to discuss the controversial anti-racism law that recently was approved, according to the newspaper La Prensa. Morales said his schedule was full and that he had to travel to Peru for a meeting with President Alan García, according to Prensa Latina.
Katherine Izaguirre, a journalist for the Honduran station Globo TV, said several armed individuals kidnapped her for two hours, threatened her, and then stole her camera, El Tiempo reports.
On Oct. 18, journalist Francisco Gomes de Medeiros was killed in front of his home in the city of Caicó in Rio Grande do Norte state, O Globo’s Repórter de Crime blog reports. F. Gomes, as he was known, worked in radio in the city, was an active blogger, and collaborated with various media outlets in the state. He is the second Brazilian journalist killed in three days.
The Argentine Association of Journalistic Entities (ADEPA in Spanish) is condemning the government of President Cristina Fernández and criticizing government officials' insults and defaming of reporters and the media.
Renowned Dominican journalist Luis Eduardo Lora has reported receiving warnings from the lawyers of two convicted drug traffickers, telling him to retract his writings about them, Diario Libre reports.
Several press freedom organizations have accused the Chiapas state government of violating human rights and freedom of expression in their violent shutdown of the Proletaria community radio station on Oct. 12. The station is run mainly by neighborhood youths in the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico's Center for Social Communication (CENCOS) Reports (via IFEX).
The government has begun to plan how it will regulate the new Anti-Racism Law, in spite of protests from press groups against two articles that could punish media outlets with closure and journalists with prison if they spread racist ideas, Jornadanet reports. The bill was signed into law last week, and the government has 90 days to make the regulatory changes necessary for the bill to be enforced.
Journalist Wanderlei dos Reis was shot by three men Saturday night, Oct. 16, inside his home in Ibitinga, São Paulo, O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reports. He underwent surgery for a serious leg wound and died Sunday morning.
In a failed attempt to avoid speculations in the press about the health of Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, who is undergoing treatment for lymphatic cancer, the president's brother, Pompeyo Lugo, asked the courts to prevent the media from revealing any information recorded in the official medical reports. The appeal for protection was removed days later, after protests and cries of censorship, according to La Nación.
Two years ago this week, a police raid on a media research center in Managua run by journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro prompted international concern that President Daniel Ortega’s government was persecuting his critics—such as Chamorro—and violating press freedom.
The country’s National Information Agency announced it will start a new free weekly paper, with nationwide circulation, that will cover the activities of the government, including news from different ministries, departments, and public institutions, Radio Ñandutí reports.
In the midst of a scandal over allegedly slapping a man who called him “corrupt,” President Alan García blamed the media for the incident, Peru.com reports. He claims the media is inciting the population against the government.