The freedom of expression organization Article 19 announced the release of the report "Digital Freedom in Brazil," which aims to serve as a resource to bring Brazil in agreement with international freedom of expression standards and improve online expression in the South American country.
On Monday, Aug. 27, the criminal division of the Colombian Supreme Court reversed its decision to sue journalist Cecilia Orozco Tascón for libel and slander, reported the Foundation for Press Freedom. The Court charged Orozco on Aug. 23, after she published an opinion column in the newspaper El Espectador questioning the criminal division's decisions.
Two newspapers and a news agency in Bolivia face charges of "diffusion and incitement of racism or discrimination." The news agency claims it only reported what President Evo Morales said in a speech, reported the newspaper La Razón.
On Thursday, Aug. 23, the Colombian Supreme Court announced a libel lawsuit against a journalist, and criticized commentaries published by another journalist, reported the newspaper El Tiempo and the magazine Semana. The court was upset over the columns that questioned and criticized some of the court's decisions.
The Bolivian government said that it would sue the Fides News Agency (ANF in Spanish) for alleged defamation against Bolivian President Evo Morales, although the case is still being analyzed by a legal team, reported the newspaper Los Tiempos.
In another ruling in favor of press freedom, on Tuesday, Aug. 21, a court in São Paulo, Brazil, rejected a $3.5 million lawsuit against the TV station TV Globo, reported Conjur.
Three journalists and a photographer were detained on Wednesday, Aug. 15, after covering an oil spill in the city of Freites, in the state of Anzoátegui, in Venezuela, reported the site La Patilla.
On Thursday, Aug. 16, the Ecuadorian government confirmed that it would grant political asylum to Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, who had sought refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in the United Kingdom on June 19 after being under house arrest since December of 2010 in that country for being accused by the Swedish government of sexually assaulting two women in Stockholm in August 2010, The Wall Street Journal reported.
During the Paraguay Resists Social Forum, that took place in the Plaza of Arms, in front of the national Congress, in Asuncion, Paraguay, on Tuesday and Wednesday Aug. 14 and 15, journalists and the Paraguayan press reported a campaign against public and alternative news media ever since President Fernando Lugo was removed from office on June 22 and replaced by Federico Franco in what some have referred to as an administrative coup, reported the newspaper Diario de Carlos Paz.
According to a court in São Paulo, the Brazilian press has the right to release all material leaked by government agents and confidentiality only applies to the police or judicial authorities who are responsible for it, reported the Counsel's website on Wednesday, Aug. 15.
The Venezuelan NGO Espacio Público launched on Tuesday, Aug. 14, a campaign for the end of President Hugo Chavez's forced TV and radio broadcasts, reported El Universal.
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner proposed an ethics law for journalists during a speech at the energy company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF in Spanish), claiming that the media were "mounting a campaign to tarnish the image" of the recently nationalized business. Kirchner cited recent articles published in the newspaper Clarín for her argument, reported HidrocarburosBolivia.com.