Barely a week after Honduran journalist Francisco Medina Polanco was killed, Luis Mendoza – the owner of the Canal 24 TV station – was gunned down by masked men on May 19, 2011, The Associated Press reports.
The Brazilian police used tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets against protesters and journalists covering a May 21 march in São Paulo in favor of marijuana legalization and freedom of expression, iG reports.
Journalist Yensi Roberto Ordóñez was found dead of apparent stab wounds inside a car in the southern Guatemalan city of Nueva Concepción, Escuintla, EFE reports.
A retired police general was called to testify about the kidnapping and sexual abuse of Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya in 2000, reported the Associated Press (AP).
The criminal court of Lima, Perú, began a new trial for the killing of a journalist, named Alberto Rivera, who was shot by hitmen in April 2004 after denouncing a mayor for corruption, according to La República.
Journalist and political activist Wilfred Iván Ojeda Peralta was found dead of a bullet wound to the head in the northern city of Revenga, Aragua, Reuters reported. Ojeda’s body was discovered Tuesday, May 17, 2011.
Reiterating statements by other organizations about the dangers the Latin American press faces, Amnesty International has issued a new report that names Latin America as one of the most dangerous regions in the world for journalists, according to CNN.
Cameraman Alejandro Márquez was shot in the leg May 10, 2011, during violent disturbances in the city of Medellín, Colombia, Caracol Radio reports.
The Office of the Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned the recent deaths of two Brazilian journalists: Valério Nascimento and Luciano Leitão Pedrosa, Folha de São Paulo reports.
Approximately 40 journalists from different media outlets in the Pacific port city of Buenaventura walked out of their workplaces on May 9, 2011 to protest threats and violence faced by reporters in the region, El País reports.
Journalist Héctor Francisco Medina Polanco, who reported on land conflicts with ranchers and alleged corruption in the northwestern city of Morazán, became at least the 12th journalist killed in the past 18 months in Honduras, the Associated Press reports.
Journalists at Radio Victoria in El Salvador received new death threats from an “extermination group” that has targeted the broadcaster since 2006, Prensa de Frente reports.