With less than a week left before a popular vote on judicial reforms and press regulation, President Rafael Correa continued to rail against the media, saying they “deceive, lie,” and are the biggest opposition to the referendum, AFP reports.
Mexico and Honduras have joined the rank of countries where the press is not considered free or independent, according to a Freedom House study released Monday, May 2, reported the Christian Science Monitor. In fact, the report, Freedom of the Press 2011: A Global Survey of Media Independence, found that global press freedom has declined to its lowest levels in more than a decade, with Latin America experiencing the most severe setbacks. The report was released as part of World Press Freedom Day.
A state judge in Brazil's Federal District (DF) sentenced Editora Abril – the company that publishes Veja magazine – and journalist Diego Escosteguy to pay $64,000 in damages to ex DF Governor Joaquim Roriz, reports Consultor Jurídico. The court ruled that Veja magazine used offensive language in a story that discussed the politician.
Barely more than a week after two Peruvian TV journalists claimed El Comercio fired them for failing to toe the party line, three reporters for Radio Líder resigned after reportedly being told to not criticize presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, Terra reports.
Brazil’s National Union of Islamic Bodies (UNI) launched an online campaign to gather 5,000 signatures in order to sue Veja magazine for the April 6 article “Brazil’s Terror Network.”
In a new punch thrown in the fight between Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa and the opposition media, the government announced that it had suspended El Universo newspaper’s presidential press credential for its alleged “failure to comply with constitutional provisions,” El Nacional reports.
Senator Roberto Requião (PMDB) forcefully took Radio Bandeirantes reporter Victor Boyadjian’s tape recorder after being asked about his $15,000 a month pension, O Globo reports. He receives the pension as the former governor of Paraná, a post from which he resigned to run for the Senate.
Journalist Paul Garay Ramírez, a correspondent for La Exitosa radio and the host of “Controversy” on Visión 47 TV, was sentenced to three years in prison for accusing prosecutor Agustín López of corruption, La República reports.
Cuarto Poder reports that one of its reporters, Fredy Martín Pérezis is being harassed by a judge, who is trying to force the journalist to testify in a trial for two alleged drug traffickers.
A judge in Tocantins state has issued an indefinite injunction against the Portal Arnaldo Filho news site, blocking it from publishing complaints by ex-workers at a private school in the city of Araguaína, Conexão Tocantins reports.
Even as the number of Internet users continues to grow, Internet freedom is increasingly threatened, and countries such as Venezuela, Jordan and Russia are especially at risk, according to a new report from Freedom House.
Less than two weeks after the last Cuban journalist was released from prison, opposition reporters have denounced new acts of repression and intimidation from the authorities.