Two radio stations were attacked with dynamite in Colquiri, Bolivia, an area rife with protests and conflicts over mining. The attacks left 23 people injured and forced the radio stations to suspend broadcasting from June 14 to 15, reported Reporters Without Borders on Tuesday, June 19. Reporters Without Borders also called for the attacks to be investigated, and for journalists to be better protected.
In Longchamps, located in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, a hooded and armed individual attacked a journalist with a belt, robbed his money, and threatened to burn his house down, reported the newspaper La Nueva Provincia.
Authorities in the Mexican state of Veracruz, the most dangerous place in the country for journalists, reported that the criminal cartel Los Zetas claimed responsibility for the killing of a reporter from the newspaper Milenio, Víctor Báez, who was killed June 14, according to Univision.
A Mexican journalist who has been missing for a week ago called a radio program on Friday, June 15, to say that she and her two-year-old son were alive and seeking protection from federal authorities, reported Notimex.
About 25 international organizations that advocate for freedom of expression, as well as more than 50 journalists and news media outlets, many of whom participated in the 10th Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas, signed a petition urging state authorities of Veracruz, as well as the Mexican federal government, to protect the safety of journalists and to solve the nine killings of Veracruz reporters in the last 18 months. The petition was published on Monday, June 18, four days after the killing of reporter Víctor Báez, who was found on Thursday, June 14, in the capital of Veracruz.
International organizations expressed concern about the Mexican journalist and her son who went missing on Friday, June 8, in the city of Saltillo, in northern Mexico, and demanded that authorities find the missing journalist.
The Brazilian police of Maranhão declared the case of the killing of journalist Décio Sá solved, adding that he was killed for his reporting. The killing happened on April 23, 2012, in a bar in São Luís, capital of the state, reported the newspaper Estado de São Paulo.
Another journalist was killed in Veracruz, México; his body was found inside of plastic bags in the early morning of Thursday, June 14, in the city of Xalapa, reported the Associated Process and the weekly Proceso. The search started the night before after the journalist was kidnapped while leaving his office, according to Reuters. It is believed that the journalist was probably a victim of organized crime, reported the newspaper El Economista.
An opposition group reported that the Cuban police brutally attacked an independent journalist renowned for going on a 135-day hunger strike leading up to Cuba's release of more than 50 political prisoners, according to the newspaper Diario de Cuba.
Mexican state legislators approved a constitutional reform that will allow federal authorities to investigate crimes against journalists, reported the newspaper La Jornada on Thursday, June 7. In March, the Senate approved a proposal to make crimes against journalists federal jurisdiction, which before were dealt with locally. But, because this was a constitutional reform, the new measure also required the approval of the majority of the 31 Mexican state legislators.
A Mexican police reporter and her son went missing the early morning of June 8, reported the newspaper Milenio.
On Wednesday, June 6, the National Association of Journalists of Peru (ANP in Spanish) reported the temporary kidnapping and attacks that a Peruvian journalist suffered on May 27 by a large group of protesters against the Swiss mining company Xstrata in the province of Espinar, in Cuzco, reported the news agency EFE.