Three journalists reporting at the infamous Tocorón prison in northern Venezuela were released Oct. 8 after being held by the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB for its acronym in Spanish) for two days.
The Public Prosecutor of the State of São Paulo wants to identify and punish those who threaten or persecute journalists on social networks. From now on, it will be possible to make a complaint to the entity’s Center for Combating Cybercrime, which wants to identify groups that incite the actions of “haters.” However, the change is valid only for the state of São Paulo.
Bolivian journalist Yadira Peláez, who accused Carlos Flores, a former manager of state-owned Bolivia TV, of sexual harassment, is being sued for economic damage to BTV in a complaint filed by the channel's management, according to El Deber.
Media and journalism associations in Bolivia are on alert due to a proposal to reform the Penal Code that is under debate in the country's Congress. They claim that Article 200 of the new Code, which provides for sanctions against professional misconduct, poses a threat to press freedom by opening the door to the criminalization of journalists in that country.
On Sept. 19, a justice of the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (STF for its acronym in Portuguese) overturned prior censorship imposed on Portal 180graus, journalistic site of Piauí in northeastern Brazil, which was decided by a State judge at the end of August.
Hitmen on motorcycles shot and killed journalist Carlos Williams Flores in the town of Tegucigalpita, Honduras on the afternoon of Sept 13.
In the week since Revista Factum published a report about the alleged existence of a death squad inside the Salvadoran police, they have received death threats, been targeted by smear campaigns and received attacks trying to take down their website. Independent news site El Faro, which has also reported on alleged extrajudicial killings by the police, has also recently received threats.
The Honduran Bar Association joined dozens of journalists who protested the morning of Aug. 16 outside the Supreme Court in Tegucigalpa to demand the repeal of Article 335-B of the Honduran Penal Code, which they consider to be contrary to freedom of expression.
Valuing journalistic work in Mexico, ending impunity of attacks against journalists and strengthening the guild are the preliminary objectives of the participants of the working groups of the #AgendaDePeriodistas initiative, which seeks to create an organization and a working plan to combat violence against the press in that country.
The deterioration of freedom of expression in Latin America is clear. In 2016 alone, 36 journalists were killed in that region for reasons that may be related to their work, according to the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
In his more than 30 years as a journalist, Jorge Ramos has dedicated himself to holding power to account, to being a rebel, to disobeying, something he advises the next generations of journalists to do. Ramos, winner of the 2017 Recognition of Excellence of the Gabriel García Márquez (GGM) Journalism Award, has been committed to "causing discomfort and [doing] it through journalism,” as Venezuelan journalist Laura Weffer explains.
From her pedestal in the middle of Mexico City, the Angel of Independence looked upon the words “They are killing us” and “No to Silence,” written in white letters measuring several feet high. Journalists were protesting against the death of well-known colleague Javier Valdez Cárdenas who was killed on May 15 of this year in Sinaloa.