The Institute for War and Peace Reporting has published a new bilingual book compiling several reports from independent Cuban journalists on different social aspects of life in the island. "With Open Voices" gathers articles in Spanish and English on Cuba's isolated society, which continues to suffer from constant attacks against human rights.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called on the country's courts and authorities to consider “special measures” that would grant him the ability to sanction print, television and radio news media after accusing them of waging "a psychological war” over Venezuela's current food shortage.
The Washington correspondent of Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, Cláudia Trevisan, was arrested on Thursday, Sep. 26 after trying to interview the president of Brazil's Federal Supreme Tribunal (STF) Joaquim Barbosa, who was attending a conference at Yale University.
As part of its campaign Impunity Kills, the Mexico chapter of press freedom organization Article 19 started a launch campaign for both a new documentary and a petition gathering signatures to ask the nation's authorities to fulfill their duties to protect journalists and investigate crimes against them.
The Cuban government rejected "guaranteeing freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, as well as the free activity of human rights defenders, independent journalists and those in opposition to the government," from among 292 formulated recommendations by the UN Human Rights Council, according to a Notimex report published in the Diario of Cuba.
The Cuban government rejected "guaranteeing freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, as well as the free activity of human rights defenders, independent journalists and those in opposition to the government," from among 292 formulated recommendations by the UN Human Rights Council, according to a Notimex report published in the Diario of Cuba.
Humberto Espinoza Maguiña, a Peruvian journalist and the former editor of the daily newspaper Prensa Regional, was sentenced twice for defamation, between Sep. 18 and 19, for denouncing alleged acts of government corruption by César Álvarez Aguilar, the regional president of Áncash, a northeastern region to the north of Lima. Maguiña received two years of prison, 120 days of community service and a fine of 5,000 soles (around $2,000), according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) called on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to immediately release journalist Víctor Manuel García Hidalgo, editor and director of news portal Informe Cifras, who has been incarcerated since March 1 at the petty crimes prison Yare III, accused of civic rebellion.
In a public display of derision against private media that has become habitual, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa again ripped apart the editions of a handful of local newspapers during one of his recent televised national addresses known as "cadenas." This time Correa also warned three publications that they could face sanctions under the country's Communications Law, under which they are required to "publish public interest articles," non-profit Fundamedios reported.
Government officials closed down a radio station and confiscated the equipment on Wednesday, Sep. 18, in the city of Guayaquil (southeast of the nation), informed news agency AFP. According to the Supervisor of Telecommunications, Supertel, the closure was due to the station operating illegally, reported AFP.
The Information Crimes Law, also being called "Beingolea Law" after Congressman Alberto Beingolea or "Frankenstein anti internet law" by some of its opponents, was approved almost by unanimity on Peru's Congress on Sep. 12 amid concerns over its possible effects on online privacy and freedom of expression.
Uruguay is the most recent country to propose a comprehensive media law to update for the 21st century the norms and regulations overseeing its communications. In May, President José Alberto “Pepé” Mujica sent the proposed bill to the Uruguayan legislature. The Senate is expected to vote on it by the end of the year.