Colombian journalist Gonzalo Guillén’s computer and a hard disk with more than 15 years of work were stolen from his home in Bogotá towards the end of April, the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) reports.
On May 3, media workers all over Latin American used World Press Freedom Day to denounce violence against reporters and media outlets and to demand protection, as new reports showed that the region has become one the most dangerous in the world to practice journalism. Press Freedom Day was also marred by the news that two journalists, one in Brazil and another in Peru, were shot to death in separate incidents.
Brazilian journalist Valério Nascimento was found dead on May 3, after having been shot repeatedly in the city of Rio Claro in the interior of Rio de Janeiro state, iG and the Associated Press report. The crime was the second journalist killed on the same day as the celebrations for World Press Freedom Day 2011.
While activists worldwide celebrated World Press Freedom Day on May 3, the violent death of a Peruvian radio journalist that same day was a stark reminder of the dangers faced by media workers. La República reports that Julio César Castillo Narváez was shot to death in the city of Virú, 340 miles to the northeast of Lima.
A total of 68 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2000, while another 13 remain missing, says a new report by Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), El Universal reports.
Estado de S. Paulo reports that its journalist, Gabriel Toueg, was briefly detained by subway security in São Paulo to stop him from recording an altercation between the officers and several young women.
Journalists from two Honduran radio stations suffered new acts of intimidation, adding to the climate of increasing violence and threats faced by opposition broadcasters in the country, El Pregón reports.
Unlike Mexico, where dozens of journalists have been killed in the last decade, Venezuelan journalists don’t work under a climate of constant threats to their lives, however they do face “systematic” pressure from the government, whose supporters are responsible for 28% of the attacks against the press, the Press and Society Institute (IPYS) reports.
After airing the contested results of Haiti's controversial legislative elections, the Haitian community radio station Tèt Ansanm Karis was destroyed by arson, reported the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Canal 33 cameraman Alfredo Antonio Hurtado was shot to death Monday, April 25, while riding a bus in Ilopango, El Salvador, El Mundo reports.
Senator Roberto Requião (PMDB) forcefully took Radio Bandeirantes reporter Victor Boyadjian’s tape recorder after being asked about his $15,000 a month pension, O Globo reports. He receives the pension as the former governor of Paraná, a post from which he resigned to run for the Senate.
Relatives of a pair of Colombian journalists who were killed 20 years ago April 24, are appealing to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IAHRC) after the attorney general announced it would no longer investigate the case, EFE reports.