In one of the most violent events for the press this year in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, at least 19 media workers were attacked while covering protests taking place on June 2, according to the human rights advocacy organization Espacio Público.
After two Bolivian government officials made statements against Carlos Valverde, the journalist decided to leave the country for what he considered threats against him, according to what he told newspaper El Deber.
The conflict that the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, has with the majority of media in his country is no secret. Since approving the Organic Law of Communication (LOC by its initials in Spanish) in 2013, different national and international organizations have denounced its restrictions on freedom of speech and press freedoms in the country.
After several years of efforts to create a common space for discussion and cooperation and to improve tools to carry out high quality journalism—such as the use of databases and public sources of information—the Chilean Journalists' Network was officially launched on May 3 during an event called Sin Mordaza, which roughly translates to Without Censorship.
Through Twitter accounts of officials or public institutions in Ecuador, 1,384 Tweets with speech disparaging, discrediting or stigmatizing the press in the country were published between June 2012 and November 2015.
A report released in May by the Center for Archives and Access to Public Information (CAinfo for its name in Spanish) registered a decrease in threats on freedom of expression in Uruguay. The text also showed that most of the cases occurred in the capital of Montevideo and are related to obstruction of journalistic work.
In 2015, Venezuela saw the highest number of violations to freedom of expression and right to information since 2002, according to a recent annual report from the Press and Society Institute (IPYS for its initials in Spanish) Venezuela.
Journalists and freedom of expression advocates around the globe celebrated World Press Freedom Day on May 3.
Media outlets and freedom of speech advocacy organizations from around the world came together to honor World Press Freedom Day, celebrated every May 3 since its proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993.
Peruvian journalist Rafael Léon was sentenced for the crime of defamation on May 3, according to newspaper La República. The sentence, which coincided with the celebration of World Press Freedom Day, requires Léon to pay 6,000 Peruvian soles (about U.S. $1,800) in civil damages and to undergo a one-year probationary period in which he must comply with rules of conduct that include not moving homes and offering to sign a monthly record.
Peruvian journalist Fernando Valencia’s case will be presented before to the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), according to the newspaper La República.
A Chilean magazine is facing a lawsuit for defamation from the country’s top government official.