During a conference in Vienna, Austria, Bolivian President Evo Morales said there is "too much freedom of expression" in his country and that independent news outlets in Bolivia are his main opposition, reported the radio station FM Bolivia.
In yet another case of judicial censorship in Brazil, an injunction is preventing a journalist from criticizing the administration of the governor of the state of Mato Grosso, Silval Barbosa (PSDB), reported the news site Repórter MT.
The Embassy of Sweden in Guatemala accused two journalists of defamation for stating on television that the Swedish government finances terrorist groups in this Central American country, reported the Guatemalan Center of News Reports (CERIGUA in Spanish). One of the accused journalists, Sylvia Gereda, Gereda denied the accusation on her blog and said she has the documents to back up the statements made about Sweden.
On Sunday, March 11, the Ecuadorian Association of Newspaper Publishers (AEDEP in Spanish) asked President Rafael Correa to end his campaign against the press and to focus instead on real problems that Ecuador is facing, reported the newspaper El Diario.
Journalist Nelson Bocaranda criticized a presumed plan to discredit journalists who comment on controversial political events that happen in Venezuela, reported the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) on Monday, March 12.
The Brazilian Superior Court on Tuesday, March 6, ordered the publishing company Editora Abril to pay roughly $283,000 in damages to the senator and ex-president Fernando Collor de Mello, who claimed he was insulted in an article published by the magazine Veja, reported the news site G1. The publishing company can appeal the ruling.
In a statement, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized the Ecuadorian government for "flagrantly" distorting information about what was discussed during a meeting between HRW and the National Communication Secretary of Ecuador, Fernando Alvarado, where freedom of expression in the country was debated.
A judge in Honduras refused entry to a television reporter wanting to attend the court hearing for a lawsuit that he himself had filed against a Catholic leader who assaulted him, reported the organization C-Libre.
Venezuelan journalist Laure Nicotra criticized the arbitrary cancellation of the news program that she had hosted for five years on TV station Canal 7 in the state of Barinas in southeast Venezuela, reported the National Association of Journalists of Caracas.
On Thursday, March 1, a São Paulo court ruled that the newspaper publishing company Folha de Manhã does not have to pay damages to the Universal Church of God's Kingdom, reported the newspaper O Globo. Folha de Manhã publishes the newspaper Folha de São Paulo.
Mexican radio and TV media owners filed a petition asking the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate and review the pending sanctions against radio and television stations imposed by election officials, reported the newspaper Milenio.
After pardoning the journalists in a $40 million libel lawsuit against the newspaper El Universo, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa once again attacked the press, saying that in Latin America there exists a "media dictatorship" and that now is the time for "free citizens to rebel against this abuse," reported the news agency EFE.