Nicaragua imposed a series of restrictions on paper imports by El Nuevo Dario, a newspaper that recently reported that the authorities had threatened its journalists after publishing allegations of corruption in the Ministry of Finance.
Two of the four Cuban dissident journalists that remain in prison have begun a hunger strike, Reporters without Borders (RSF) reports.
The indigenous leader and former director of the radio station La Voz de Arutam, José Acacho, was arrested and accused of sabotage and terrorism for allegedly using the station to incite anti-government protests, Fundamedios reports via IFEX. During the 2009 demonstrations, one teacher was killed and 40 soldiers were wounded.
Members of the Brazilian media who traveled to Egypt to cover the protests for and against President Hosni Mubarak have suffered various types of harassment at the hands of the police, including hotel room raids, equipment confiscation, and deportation.
Radio Faluma Bimetu/Coco Dulce, a station serving the Afro-Caribbean Garifuna community in the Honduran coastal city of Triunfo de la Cruz, returned to the air after a month of threats, tension, and hostility, reports Reporters without Borders (RSF).
A Chilean journalist was arrested by police while covering a protest against the increase in public transportation fares in the capital city of Santiago, according to Terra.
Freelance reporter Solly Boussidan, who was arrested Jan. 28 for allegedly working without proper accreditation, was deported Feb. 1, O Globo reports. He was sent to the nearby country of Abkhazia.
Dissident Cuban journalist Julio César Gálvez, who was freed in July 2010 by Cuba after seven years in prison, complained that the living conditions of his exile in Spain are not what he was promised.
Freelance journalist Solly Boussidan was arrested by Russian authorities Friday, Jan. 28, in the city of Sochi, accused of reporting without the necessary accreditation, reported the newspaper Estado de S. Paulo, the news outlet with with which he collaborates.
Tension between the private media and the government of President Hugo Chávez is nothing new. However, U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks (cable 10CARACAS219) reveal that the conflict is now such that the U.S. ambassador in Caracas believes Chávez is “is close to his goal of 'domesticating' or eliminating the remaining free and independent media in Venezuela,” El País reports.
Dissident journalist Guillermo Fariñas – famous worldwide for hunger striking for 135-days before Cuban released more than 50 political prisoners – was arrested for the second time in less than 24 hours for demonstrating in front of the jail where other dissidents were still being held, Reuters reports. He was freed after five hours, The Associated Press reports.
The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) announced that in the coming weeks it will present a report to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (CIDH) about press freedom violations in the country, AFP reports. In recent months, two newspapers have alleged persecution at the hands of President Daniel Ortega, while an opposition TV network went off the the air several days ago.