The Bolivian government announced that it will not move forward with a new press law but that it does intend to "bring the work of the press and journalism into line with the new Constitution," reported the television channel Eju TV.
An Ecuadoran law prohibiting the media from reporting on elections went into effect Saturday, Feb. 4, reported the news agency Agencia de Noticias del Ecuador y Sudamérica.
A Honduran journalist was kept from traveling to Brazil on Feb. 3, when he was ordered to appear in court, reported the Committee for Freedom of Expression in Honduras.
Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work defending freedom of expression, was denied permission to leave the island to visit Brazil, according to the website Terra. The blogger tweeted that this was the 19th time she has been denied the right to enter and leave the country.
Still frustrated with the New York City Police Department's treatment of reporters covering the Occupy Wall Street protests, a group of journalists and media organizations sent a second letter to police, demanding "more steps to resolve reporter access issues," according to the Associated Press (AP).
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has released a report criticizing pending Ecuadorian electoral reforms that will prohibit the press from covering political campaigns and elections. According to CPJ, the electoral reform will go into effect Saturday, Feb. 4.
Accusations on Twitter and other social networks led the Journalistic Observatory to investigate claims that executives of the official Guatemalan newspaper, Diario de Centro América, forced employees to stay inside the building and took away their cellphones, according to the Guatemalan Center for Investigative Reports.
The 26-year-old Brazilian newspaper Já was forced to close after a court sentenced the publication to pay damages to the mother of the ex-governor of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Germano Rigotto, reported the newspaper O Expresso on Jan. 26. The newspaper had a circulation of five thousand in the city of Porto Alegre.
The Venezuelan hacker group N33 took over the Twitter accounts of two journalists critical of President Hugo Chávez, reported the weekly magazine Sexto Poder. The group is also responsible for other cyber attacks against opposition members, and is considered a growing threat to freedom of expression in the South American country.
On Jan. 27, a a marathon of hearings started for the Brazilian news website Congresso em Foco following the publication of a series of reports detailing salaries paid to politicians, judges and civil servants above the constitutional limit, the website reported.
Immigration authorities in Panama denied Canadian journalist Rosie Simms entry into the country on Jan. 21. Authorities alleged that her passport was invalid, despite its 2015 expiration date, according to Reporters Without Borders. After holding her for four hours and denying her access to consular services, they forced her to board a plane for the United States, reported the website Newsroom Panama.
A news team for the Venezuelan television broadcaster Globovisión was detained by the country's Bolivarian National Guard as they tried to cover an oil spill in the community of Pararí, in the state of Monagas, reported the International Freedom of Expression Exchange on Jan. 27.