Cuban human rights activist Laura Pollán died on Friday, Oct. 14 of respritory complications in a hospital in the Cuban capital, Havana, reported The New York Times. Pollán was the outspoken leader of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White), a group that demanded the release of political prisoners in Cuba.
A Colombian court sentenced the newspaper Cundinamarca Democrática's founder and editor to 20 months in prison and a $5,500 fine for criminal libel, reported the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Brazilian television journalist Paulo Benito lost his contract with SBT affiliate TV Allamanda in the state of Rondônia on Oct. 6, after he was accused of "merchandising" for a politician, according to the website Gazeta de Rondônia.
An Ecuadoran court suspended journalist Emilio Palacio's three-year prison sentence and $40 million fine for defaming the Andean country's president, Rafael Correa, reported BBC Mundo.
Journalist Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias of the Hablemos Press agency was detained on Sept. 30 and is currently awaiting expulsion from the Cuban capital of Havana to his hometown of Camagüey in the east of the communist country.
The director of the site Código Venezuela, journalist Milagros Socorro, announced that hackers attacked her blog, Twitter and e-mail accounts in retaliation for criticizing President Chavez's communications ministry, reported the website La Patilla.
Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa threatened to bring yet another charge against the embattled newspaper El Universo after it published a provocative letter by an assembly member, according to the group Fundamedios.
Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes, an ex-journalist, came out in support of a reform to decriminalize slander, libel and defamation in the Central American country, reported the newspaper El Diario de Hoy on Oct. 1.
Brazilian journalist Marcos Antônio Moreira, owner of Super Site Good, was ordered to pay damages of over $12,000 (BR$ 21,800) to the ex-inspector general of justice for the state of Mato Grosso, Orlando Perri, reported MidiaNews.
Rafael Correa raged against the press during his speech at the World Leaders Forum at Columbia University in New York.
Felipe Werneck, a Rio de Janeiro-based correspondent for the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, was arrested for contempt of authority on Sunday, Sept. 25, reported IG.
A judge in Argentina solicited personal information from every journalist that has written articles related to inflation in the South American country since 2006, reported the newspaper Clarín.