Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico and Dominican Republic were the countries in the Americas with the most alerts on violations or possible threats against freedom of expression in 2012, according to Amnesty International's 2013 annual report on the state of human rights around the world.
The National Association of the Press of Bolivia (ANP) has said that the Life Insurance Law for media workers has “political ends” contrary to freedom of the press and could allow for “state intervention” in media companies, reported the newspaper La Razón.
The National Press Association of Bolivia, or ANP, described new rules in the country's law against human trafficking as an "attack" on freedom of expression and the "confiscation" of media outlets' financial resources, news portal Los Tiempos reported.
Bolivian Culture Minister Pablo Groux honored eight newspapers for their participation in the tradition of the Alasitas Miniature Press in the capital, La Paz, reported Prensa Latina.
Journalists unions in Bolivia rejected the Life and Disability Insurance Law for Press Workers enacted by President Evo Morales on Monday, Dec. 10, reported the website Los Tiempos. The proposed insurance would be paid for with one percent of the monthly total gross revenue of public and private media organizations and managed by a board with majority State representation, added the website.
The San Bernardo hospital in Argentina discharged the Bolivian journalist burned live on air, Fernando VIdal, on Monday, Dec. 10, after he received three surgeries, reported the newspaper El Tribuno. According to the journalist's son, Kim Romero, Vidal will hold a press conference on Wednesday, Dec. 12, and hopes to return to Bolivia within the next two weeks if doctors say he is ready to travel, the newspaper added.
The Bolivian government raided offices and seized broadcasting equipment from a television station in the city of Cochabamba for allegedly failing to meet technical regulations, reported IFEX.
Bolivian police announced the arrest of a fourth suspect in the gruesome attack on a radio reporter who was set on fire live on the air on Monday, Oct. 29, reported BBC.
Four assailants poured petrol on a Bolivian reporter and lit him on fire during his radio program on Monday night, Oct. 29, reported BBC. Fernando Vidal, owner and director of Radio Popular in Yacuíba, a city along the border with Argentina, is in critical condition, reported the EFE news agency.
A Bolivian journalist claimed bullets were fired at the door of his home in the southern city of Tarija on Oct. 11, reported the news agency ANF. Reporter Humberto Vacaflor reported the attack to the local police but the Special Force to Fight Crime asked him to bring the suspects to the station himself, the agency added.