A Colombian journalist was attacked and threatened by unknown individuals in Ecuador after publishing a detailed report about the lack of freedom of expression in Ecuador and the recent decision of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to give asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, reported the newspapers Hoy and La Hora.
A slew of attacks and threats against journalists took place over the last week in Argentina. After being beaten, one journalist also received a death threat in the village of Sancti Spirtiu in the province of Santa Fe on Tuesday, Aug. 14, reported the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA in Spanish).
With the arrest of two alleged Mexican drug lords, the Veracruz Attorney General declared that the cases of five killed journalists were solved, but the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and the organization Article 19, questioned the state government's way of trying to close the investigations, according to CNN México.
On Monday, Aug. 13, the Red Cross International Committee reported that the National Liberation Army (ELN in Spanish) freed the journalist and engineer kidnapped by the guerrilla group on July 24. The victims were turned in to a humanitarian commission.
Mexican female journalists have been attacked 115 times in the last 10 years, with a noticeable increase after 2009, according to a new report by the association Women's Communication and Information (CIMAC in Spanish). What's worse, the killings of 13 female journalists remain unsolved, said the organization.
The Mexican Navy arrested an alleged drug trafficker that may be linked to the killing of four media employees in Veracruz, according to the newspaper Milenio.
Research from the International News Safety Institute (INSI) ranked Brazil among the five worst countries for journalists during the first half of the year. That places Brazil alongside Nigeria, Somalia, Indonesia, and Mexico, reported the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji in Portuguese) on Thursday, Aug. 9. As of June, at least 70 journalists and other news media professionals were killed worldwide because of their job -- that's 14 more journalists than the first six months of 2011.
Honduran President Porfirio Lobo promised to crack the unsolved cases of killed journalists, and decriminalize libel and slander during the "Security, Protection and Solidarity for Freedom of Expression" conference organized by the Inter American Press Association and the Honduran Association of News Media, reported the EFE news agency on Thursday, Aug. 9.
Gunmen sprayed the facade of the Mexican newspaper El Regional del Sur with bullets during the evening of Wednesday, Aug. 8, reported the newspaper El Universal. El Regional del Sur is published in the city of Cuernacava, near the Mexican capital.
Several Argentine journalists were attacked and their equipment stolen, allegedly by the political group Tupac Amaru, founded by Argentine leader Milagro Sala, on Friday, Aug. 3, in the province of Jujuy, reported the newspaper El Litoral.
On the night of Friday, Aug. 3, a Colombian journalist was injured after an attack with explosives near the community radio station where she worked in Saravena, a town in Arauca, on the Venezuelan border, reported the news agency EFE, and the newspaper El Tiempo. According to Caracol radio, those responsible for the attack are allegedly members of the National Liberation Army (ELN in Spanish), and the attack had targeted police.
A Honduran journalist said that he is requesting asylum in the U.S. for himself and five family members after being threatened and being attacked, according to the news agency AFP.