The U.S. government named freedom of expression one of three "specific challenges" in its strategy toward Latin America, along with energy resources and education, reported the news agency EFE.
An anarchist collective claimed that Cuban customs officials confiscated a mail package containing samples of a Venezuelan newspaper, according to the website Havana Times.
Several journalism and human rights organizations criticized the fine that TV broadcaster Globovisión received from Venezuela's National Telecommunications Commission after running a series of videos regarding Chávez's inability to be present for the presidential inauguration.
Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, said he would continue confronting the press that he accuses of manipulating information on favor of business interests if voters re-elect him on Feb. 17, reported the website América Economía.
Honduran President Porfirio Lobo criticized media organizations for reporting on the roaring violence in the country, which includes the highest murder rate in the world at 92 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
The Salvadoran Association of Journalists (APES in Spanish) released its annual report on the advances and challenges to freedom of expression in the Central American country.
The Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA in Spanish) released a statement criticizing public and private media companies for pressuring journalists to meet their respective editorial stances during 2012.
The Journalists' Union of Panama reported a 275-percent increase in the number of press freedom attacks in 2012, according the news agency Xinhua.
A lawsuit filed by the head of the Argentine Federal Revenue Administration (AFIP in Spanish) against a journalist was denied for the second time, reported the newspaper La Nación.
The obstacles keep coming for the distribution of Colombian-American Santiago Villa's documentary on President Rafael Correa. According to the Ecuadorian NGO Fundamedios, YouTube and Vimeo took down the video after the company Ares Rights brought a lawsuit for copyright infringement.
The Panamanian newspaper La Estrella reported a cyberattack on its website on Wednesday, Dec. 12, according to the publication.
A Cuban journalist in prison is the only one from Latin America that appears in the Committee to Protect Journalists' list of journalists incarcerated in 2012. However, the list does not include another Cuban journalist who was sentenced to 14 years in prison on espionage charges.