Leocenis García, editor of the Venezuelan newspaper 6to Poder, announced on Nov. 9 that he would go on a hunger strike for an "undetermined time" to reinvigorate the appeal against his detention, reported El Universal. García was arrested Aug. 30 after publishing a cover satirizing several female members of President Hugo Chávez's administration.
After publishing a series of reports on government salaries in all three branches that exceed constitutional limits, the news site "Congresso em Foco" (Congress in Focus) became the target of a flood of legal charges from the public servants in the Brazilian Senate, reported the website on Oct. 31.
Sylvia Gereda, co-founder and director of the Guatemalan newspaper elPeriódico, said she decided to resign following a dispute with the other co-founders over shares in the newspaper that compromised its editorial independence in Gereda's opinion, according to a post made by the journalist on her blog. In a clarification, Jose Rubén Zamora, editor and founder of elPeriódico wrote, "I did not censor her work not is it true that Manuel Baldizón, presidential candidate, interferes, much less is the owner of elPeriódico, as she says."
Brazilian journalist José Marcondes was fired from the radio station where he was a political commentator and received threats in the aftermath of an opinion piece criticizing a senator from Mato Grosso, the journalist told the news site Repórter MT.
A columnist in Ecuador claimed censorship when his newspaper decided not to publish one of his pieces, saying they wanted to "avoid legal trouble," according to the organization Fundamedios.
The Supreme Court of Lima, Peru, released jailed journalist Paul Garay Ramírez after serving six months of an 18-month sentence for defamation, reported the Press and Society Institute.
Rose Mary Santana, journalist for several Dominican media outlets in Florida, became the president of the Dominican Journalists Council in Miami. She noted that some of the powers that be "see a journalist as an enemy when they practice investigative journalism," a statement from the same organization read.
As a result of a judicial decision, Brazilian blogger Noel Júnior had his home office equipment confiscated in the municipality of São Francisco do Itabapoana, the blogger said on his site.
Blog del Narco, a website known for publishing uncensored images and videos of violence in Mexico, reported via Twitter and its new site, MilCincuenta.com, that users are having difficulty viewing the page since Oct. 24, especially those using Google Chrome.
On the day the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) met to analyze the state of freedom of expression in Ecuador, an Ecuadoran legislator proposed a bill, sent by President Rafael Correa, that would punish government officials who attack freedom of expression, meeting out sentences of three to five years in jail, according to the news agecy Andes.
A radio host in Peru claimed she was fired because of pressure from the mayor of her city, Cajabamba, in the north of the country, reported the Press and Society Institute (IPYS in Spanish).
The Inter American Press Association's (IAPA) 67th General Assembly in Lima, Peru, ended with the organization issuing a series of resolutions and conclusions highlighting the fact that "attempts to silence the independent press" in Latin America have continued to mount in 2011, as evidenced by the rampant "physical violence, the murder of journalists and the impunity of these crimes, lawsuits, arbitrary arrests, verbal abuse, and the manipulation of government advertising to laws or restrictive bills."