During the first quarter of 2024, the Observatory of Journalists in Guatemala recorded 22 attacks and restrictions on the press. Although there has been a small improvement compared to the same period last year, organizations and journalists remain concerned about the criminalization of the profession in the country.
In a report from the Vladimir Herzog Institute, 10 journalists and communicators told how they have suffered threats and attacks for reporting on activities like mining and logging in the Brazilian Amazon. The document also offers safety tips and presents protective resources that journalists can turn to if they are in danger.
As part of its work to fight impunity in crimes against journalists, the Inter American Press Association launched the “Voices claiming justice” campaign. The first case highlighted in it is that of the Colombian journalist Gerardo Bedoya Borrero murdered in 1997 and whose crime remains unpunished.
Cases of beatings, attacks and insults from fans against journalists have multiplied in many countries in Latin America. Behind the attacks, there may be new codes of conduct among violent fans and a deep intolerance for difference.
Two months after armed men stormed the studios of TC Televisión in Guayaquil, Ecuador, journalists from the channel have turned to various forms of psychological support. One of them is a new psychosocial support program from Fundamedios based on holistic therapies, resilience techniques and ancestral knowledge.
At least 25 journalists from Guatemala have gone into exile due to an increase in censorship, attacks and persecution in their home country. Among them are Marvin Del Cid, Lucia Ixchíu and Gerson Ortiz, who spoke with LJR about the legal cases against them and the emotional consequences of being uprooted.
Environmental and climate journalists face extreme risks, including physical and legal threats, when reporting on environmental degradation, according to a new report from the International Press Institute. In Latin America, organized crime, businesses and corrupt state forces represent the main threats to these professionals, Barbara Trionfi, author of the report, told LJR.
The journalistic investigation “Veracruz of silences” from the organization Article 19 seeks answers to the question: Why are journalists killed? For this, the investigative team and a macro-criminality specialist analyzed the murders and disappearances of 20 journalists in the Mexican state from 2010 to 2016.
Since far-right politician Javier Milei assumed the presidency in Argentina on Dec. 10, 2023, there have been a series of street demonstrations against his emergency measures. The latest demonstrations were at the beginning of February and the government repressed the press with greater brutality than on other occasions, according to journalists.
The year 2023 saw a decrease in murders of journalists around the world: a trend also seen in Latin America and the Caribbean. Despite the significance of that statistic, expert voices point out that it does not represent an improvement in the conditions for practicing journalism and that it could lead to the phenomenon of zones of silence.
Civil society organizations that participate in the National Observatory of Violence against Journalists and Social Communicators welcome the “good will” of the Brazilian government, but state that a lack of personnel and prioritization of the issue are obstacles to its effectiveness. Changes in the Ministry of Justice, where the Observatory is housed, also concern them.
It has been 11 years since Ecuadorian journalist Fausto Valdiviezo was killed. His brother and experts believe that the case has not been solved because of a lack of investigation on the part of authorities because he was a journalist.