During the second edition of his new radio and TV show “En Contacto con Maduro, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro proposed a conference of Twitter users from Latin America and the Caribbean in Caracas, state TV network Venezolana de Television (VTV) reported.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro launched a weekly radio program titled “En contacto con Maduro” (“In contact with Maduro” in English) on Tuesday, March 11, reported the digital newspaper Infobae.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signed the country’s first Transparency and Access to Public Information Law today March 6, reported the Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP).
Nicolás Maduro’s government continues to repress the news media in Venezuela. A week after NTN24’s signal was cut mid-transmission and work permits for CNN journalists were revoked, Twitter confirmed to BBC Mundo that the images of the protests published through its service are being blocked in Venezuela.
A panel of journalists gathered Feb. 21 at the 2014 Lozano Long Conference at the University of Texas at Austin to reflect on their coverage of the Central American revolutions from the 1970’s to 1990’s. The roundtable discussion featured the raw accounts of the journalists and highlighted the importance of a new effort by the university's LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections to develop the largest collection of archives dedicated to the wars that took place in Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Journalists and citizens of Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries interested in investigative journalism can now count on a guidebook by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Titled “Story-based Inquiry: a Manual for Investigative Journalists,” the handbook was first launched in English in 2009 and this week was released in Spanish and Portuguese.
During peace negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Colombian government spied on communications between the group’s spokespeople and international journalists who were covering the events, Univisión reported.
The Colombian news channel NTN 24, which transmits through cable in Venezuela, was taken off the air after reporting on the massive protests that shook the entire country on Feb. 12. According to Caracol Radio, the Venezuelan government said the news channel was misinforming on the events.
Prominent blogger Yoani Sánchez said she plans to launch a digital newspaper in her native Cuba. The announcement took place on Jan. 31 during the Hay Festival, in the Colombian city of Cartagena.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) applauded the decision by the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court to accept a lawsuit filed last year challenging the legality of the country’s controversial Organic Communications Law. IAPA was hopeful the action will refuel the debate over governmental measures set by the law that limit freedom of expression in the country.
A controversial state secrecy law quietly passed by Honduran lawmakers last week was suspended Friday Jan. 17 after strong backlash from civil society groups including Reporters Without Borders, who said the law unduly restricted freedom of information.
The Law on Secret Information, discreetly adopted by the Honduran parliament on Jan. 13, endangers Hondurans’ access to public information and the transparency of their new government, according to various human rights organizations like Reporters Without Borders.