A provincial Honduran journalist was gunned down and killed on Dec. 7, Reporters Without Borders informed. Juan Carlos Argeñal, 49, is the third journalist this year to be murdered in the country.
Threats against the press in Mexico increased 46% in the first half of 2013 in comparison with the same period last year, according to a new report from the organization Artículo 19. In the first part of 2013, the organization recorded a total of 151 attacks against journalists and members of the media, including two killings, one disappearance, four armed attacks, 26 threats, and seven violations of freedom of expression.
Various journalists have claimed that their coverage was restricted during the recent elections in Venezuela, won by Hugo Chávez’s designated successor Nicolás Maduro. According to the Press and Society Institute (IPYS), some local journalists had problems getting into voting centers and were impeded by the authorities.
On Thursday night in Venezuela, interim President Nicolás Maduro ended his campaign in Caracas at the same time as opposition candidate Henrique Capriles closed his in Barquisimeto, the capital of Lara, the state where he was governor.
The opposition candidate for President of Venezuela, Henrique Capriles, has accused Nicolás Maduro, the incumbent and anointed successor to the late Hugo Chávez, of using public media to benefit his campaign, reported the website Informe21.
The reelected president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, said the “big loser” of the election was the country’s private press when asked how it would figure in to his new mandate, said the newspaper El Universo. Correa said he would continue with the Communications Law because what the people want “is an honest and responsible press. Never with censorship, but with ulterior responsibility.”
A few days before the presidential and parliamentarian elections in Ecuador, which will take place on Feb. 17, fears of lawsuits and other legal liabilities are holding back journalistic coverage.
The British newspaper the Guardian released a statement admitting that Mexican television broadcaster Televisa' elections coverage complied with the Federal Election Institute's impartiality rules.
The president of Ecuador Rafael Correa – who is currently running for reelection – and his running mate Jorge Glas have filed a complaint with the National Electoral Commission (or CNE in Spanish) over the publication of a political cartoon that they say damages their image, according to the news agency AFP.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF in French) released a report on the status of journalism in Brazil on Thursday, Jan. 24.