"At least nine journalists have left Ecuador since April due to death threats from organized crime and at least six remain in exile so far, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) recalled in a preliminary report.
Three other journalists were relocated within the country after being intimidated, according to the Andean Foundation for the Observation and Study of the Media (Fundamedios, for its Spanish acronym) and the Fundación Periodistas Sin Cadenas (Journalists Without Chains Foundation), which monitor press freedom and the rights of communicators.
The death threats have been focused on journalists who have revealed politically sensitive cases or who have investigated the functioning of criminal gangs or who have covered a crime perpetrated by them."
