Mexican journalist Ángel Castillo Corona, columnist for the digital newspaper Portal, was killed along with his teen-age son, early Sunday morning, July 3, when they were assaulted while driving in the city of Tianguistenco in Mexico State, Portal reported.
After the wave of journalist killings in Honduras in 2010 that prompted President Porfirio Lobo to ask the U.S. FBI for help, so far in 2011 three journalists have been killed. Adán Benítez, veteran host and journalist who worked for more than 16 years in radio and television, was shot to death on his way home in the city of La Ceiba on Monday, July 4, reported La Prensa Gráfica.
Guatemalan journalist Jorge Arquímides Manchamé Palma was killed in the city of Esquipulas, in the southeastern Guatemalan department of Chiquimula, on Sunday, July 3, reported the newspaper Prensa Libre.
Independent journalist Luis Eduardo Gómez, a witness for prosecutors' investigation into links between politicians and paramilitaries, was killed by two gunmen who shot him from a motorcycle last week in Arboletes, Antioquia, in northwest Colombia, BBC reports.
The government of the Mexican state of Veracruz is offering a reward of more than a quarter-million dollars for information about the killing of a journalist, reported El Universal.
A firebomb was thrown at a truck for the television program Juez Justo TV, which is hosted by ex-police colonel Benedicto Jiménez, reported Panamericana Televisión. The attack occurred in the Peruvian capital of Lima in the wee morning hours of Wednesday, June 29.
The Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA in Spanish) denounced a series of attacks and anonymous threats against a journalist in southern Argentina, reported Diario Uno. Mario Sánchez, radio reporter and a board member for the press union in Neuquén in the Patagonia region of Argentina, recently was robbed and his house set on fire, explained El Diario de la Roja. Then, a few days later, the reporter received intimidating phone calls and a death threat, the newspaper added.
Some journalists in Peru have interpreted as velied threats against freedom of expression the words of president-elect Ollanta Humala during a visit to Ecuador when he met with Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, who has a tense relationship with the press, which he has characterized as "corrupt."
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is accusing the government of the Dominican Republic of the forced disappearance of journalist Narciso González 17 years ago, during the administration of former President Joaquín Balaguer (1986-1996), reported DiarioLibre.com.
Journalists from the Brazilian channel SporTV were attacked by fans of the Argentine soccer team River Plate, in Buenos Aires, after the team's 2-0 loss to Belgrano, another Argentine team, reported Terra.
A Mexican journalist was seriously injured in the head and received a 12 cm.-long cut in the face on Sunday, June 19, in the southern state of Chiapas, reported El Economista. Another reporter was mentioned as a possible suspect responsible for the attack.
The Press and Society Institute (IPYS) issued two alerts for journalists who were attacked and threatened on university campuses in Peru and Venezuela.