The editor-in-chief of the Venezuelan weekly newspaper Sexto Poder, Leocenis García, was released from prison and taken to a private clinic the night of Nov. 21 after spending 12 days on a hunger strike in prison to protest the charges against him, reported El Nacional.
A fire almost completely destroyed the broadcasting equipment of the radio station FM Sapucay on Friday, Nov. 18, in the Argentine community of Santa Rita Misiones on the border with Brazil, according to the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA in Spanish).
Despite the denouncements of international organizations and charges of kidnapping and torturing two photographers, Chilean security forces continue to crack down on the practice of freedom of expression. On Nov. 21, police intimidated and attacked journalists covering a protest against a tribute to a former member of the military dictatorship, reported the website Opera Mundi.
A court in Ecuador has ratified a six-month prison sentence against a radio broadcaster accused of defaming a doctor two years ago, according to IFEX.
On Wednesday, Nov. 23, for the first time, the world will recognize the International Day to End Impunity, held to coincide with the anniversary of the Nov. 23, 2009, massacre of 32 journalists in Maguindanao in the southern Philippines. The inaugural day is being organized by the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) as a "call to action to demand justice for those who have been killed for exercising their right to freedom of expression and shed light on the issue of impunity," according to IFEX.
On Nov. 17, electronic equipment and office supplies were stolen from the Venezuelan freedom of expression NGO, Public Space, in the capital city of Caracas, reported the Press and Society Institute.
An Argentine journalist and her assistant both claimed to have received death threats since the beginning of November. The journalists believe the threats are motivated by the up-coming publication of a book investigating Mexican President Felipe Calderón's six-year term, reported Artículo 19.
The newspaper El Mundo de Córdoba claimed that gunmen fired on their vendors from a truck on Saturday, Nov. 19, in the city of Córdoba, in the Gulf state of Veracruz.
Family members of killed and disappeared journalists and freedom of expression advocates will meet in Mexico City on Dec. 10 to participate in the Journalists Memorial Forum, organized by Reporters Without Borders and the Center for Journalism and Public Ethics (CEPET in Spanish) .
A journalist and her ex-boyfriend were shot to death at a gas station in the Brazilian coastal city of Vila Velha, in Espírito Santo, the morning of Saturday, Nov. 19, according to Folha Vitória.
A radio announcer was stabbed and beaten in the Bolivian city of El Alto, close to the capital city of La Paz, on Nov. 15, according to the newspaper Crónica Viva.
Union workers threw rocks at a television station and attacked reporters in Puerto Madryn in Argentine Patagonia on the evening of Nov. 16, according to Clarín.