For 42 minutes, Ecuadorian President, Rafael Correa used his State of the Union address to attack the press, reported Fundamedios.
The hacker collective Anonymous announced "Operation Free Condor" in a YouTube video to protest the Ecuadorian government's policies against freedom of expression, reported the newspaper El Universo.
On Wednesday, July 27, an Ecuadoran court found journalist Freddy Vidal Aponte guilty of fraudulent insolvency after not paying compensation for moral damages to the ex-mayor of Loja, a city south of the capital Quito.
Peruvian newspaper Correo criticized Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's visit to Peru at the invitation of the Andean nation's new president, Ollanta Humala, to attend the Ceremony of the Assumption.
As tempers simmered over the sentencing of newspaper employees for defaming Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, one citizen decided to file a similar lawsuit. But this time it was against President Correa for comments the head of state made about him, Hoy reports. Executives and a columnist of El Universo were sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $40 million in damages to the president.
The directors of El Universo newspaper in Ecuador announced that the newspaper would continue circulating and reporting, in spite of the July 20 ruling that sentenced the paper, its directors, and an editor to $40 million in damages and three years in prison.
A judge sentenced three directors and a columnist at El Universo daily to three years each in prison and $40 million in fines for defaming President Rafael Correa in a February 6 editorial, CNN reports.
The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, has announced that Congress will consider a new media regulation law that will help fight "ink assassins," as he refers to opposition journalists, and that will be the "best legacy" of his administration, reported Fundamedios.
Journalist Emilio Palacio, in an effort to protect his newspaper from an $80 million libel suit by Ecuadoran President Rafael Correan, has resigned from his position as opinion editor at El Universo, Terra reports.
Some journalists in Peru have interpreted as velied threats against freedom of expression the words of president-elect Ollanta Humala during a visit to Ecuador when he met with Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, who has a tense relationship with the press, which he has characterized as "corrupt."
Ecuadoran president Rafael Correa is questioning the independence of some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country, accusing them of receiving funding from the U.S. international development agency, USAID. Among the organizations Correa is accusing are the Andean Foundation for the Observation and Study of Media (FUNDAMEDIOS in Spanish) and the movement Citizen Participation, both of which have been critical of the president's communications policies, reported the newspaper Opinión.
Just as journalistic organizations in Ecuador and Paraguay are complaining about the use of laws against the press aimed at silencing journalistis, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) released a statement expressing concern about the "deterioration of freedom of expression and press freedom on the American continent," reported La Prensa.