In a July 12 ceremony in Washington, D.C., Brazil and the United States outlined a new multilateral initiative, the "Open Government Partnership" (OGP), which aims to find ways to combat corruption and promote transparency, according to a U.S. State Department statement and the newspaper O Globo.
An internal investigation of the São Paulo civil police has determined, three years after the case started, that the arrest of Brazilian reporter Roberto Cabrini was a result of a police set-up, according to Folha de S. Paulo. The journalist, host of the program Conexão Repórter on television station SBT, was held for two days, accused of transporting 10 bags of cocaine in his car in April 2008.
Antuérpio Pettersen Filho, blogger in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo and editor of digital newspaper Grito Cidadão, received death threats after publishing a report accusing a police official of being part of a militia, reported the blog Vi o Mundo.
Independent journalist Luis Eduardo Gómez, a witness for prosecutors' investigation into links between politicians and paramilitaries, was killed by two gunmen who shot him from a motorcycle last week in Arboletes, Antioquia, in northwest Colombia, BBC reports.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has condemned the boycott against a newspaper in Colombia and the attempted raid on a daily in Argentina, which come amidst the growing number of incidents of aggression against the press in Latin America and somber reports about the future of freedom of expression in the region.
Brazilian journalist Wagner Florêncio Império is being investigated by São Paulo police for allegedly using his position as a reporter to obtain secret information about police investigations and give that information to tax fraud suspects in the city of Taboão da Serra, reported Folha de S. Paulo.
A corruption scandal involving a top official at the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo human rights group, the country’s most prominent voice against the Argentine dictatorship (1976-1983), has led media outlets and journalists to accuse each other of biasing coverage for political ends.
Gaspar Domingos Lazari, the mayor of Confresa, in the western Brazil state of Mato Grosso, is accused of sending “henchmen” to threaten journalist Leandro Nascimento because of articles that revealed corruption at city hall, reported Gazeta Digital.
Inspired by the recent protests in Spain that, since March, have demanded economic and electoral system changes, filmmaker Raquel Diniz, 31, created a collaborative map to pinpoint cases of corruption in Brazil, according to Folha de S. Paulo.
Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa congratulated Ollanta Humala on being elected the next president of Peru and warned him of future problems he may face due to the country’s “corrupt press,” EFE reports. “I hope that I am wrong but they will see how Peru’s corrupt press is not going to leave you alone,” Correa said. He also questioned why international journalism organizations like the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) have not discussed allegations that the country’s biggest media companies were biasing coverage against Humala. Correa himself has a tense relationship with the Ecuadoran press and
Federal prosecutors in Brazil announced charges against João Dorileo Leal, a top executive at Grupo Gazeta, the largest media company in Mato Grosso state, for laundering money earned from illegal gambling, Folha de São Paulo reports.
Journalists from TV RBA and Diário do Pará newspaper were not allowed to witness statements made in court by Rômulo Maiorana Jr. on May 18, Diário Online reports.