Panamanian journalists are developing the “My Transparent Panama” platform as a model digital tool that can be used to cover crime and corruption in Latin America. The project is an online digital map that plots citizen-provided information about incidents ranging from fraud and theft to murder and rape.
Brazil's ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized the "opinion makers" for trying to create differences between his government and that of his successor, President Dilma Rousseff, reported Estado de S. Paulo. Lula made the remarks at an event commemorating 31 years of the Workers Party (PT) on Feb. 10.
The Cuban government has lifted access restrictions on the more than 40 of the country’s dissent bloggers’ websites, continuing the apparent drawdown in attacks against the opposition, which included the release of political prisoners last year, the Miami Herald reports.
Ten people in Colombia, including three journalists, have been threatened in a pamphlet allegedly signed by the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, according to the Freedom of the Press Foundation (FLIP in Spanish), which condemned the death threats.
Journalists from A Tarde, one of the most important newspapers in the northeastern state of Bahia, went on strike to protest the firing of reporter Aguirre Peixoto, UOL Notícias reports.
The Venezuelan government said the private sector continues to control media in the country, El Universal reports, in spite of its efforts to restrict print, broadcast, and digital content.
Mexican media personality Carmen Aristegui, the award-winning host of one of the highest-rated radio programs in the county, was fired by MVS Radio after discussing allegations that President Felipe Calderón is an alcoholic, EFE reports.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has asked the Mexican Supreme Court to respect the right of citizens to express their electoral opinions through the media.
Nicaragua imposed a series of restrictions on paper imports by El Nuevo Dario, a newspaper that recently reported that the authorities had threatened its journalists after publishing allegations of corruption in the Ministry of Finance.
Two Brazilian journalists who were arrested in Egypt last week were deported back to Brazil over the weekend, Agência Estado reports. Rádio Nacional’s Corban Costa and TV Brasil's Gilvan Rocha traveled to Egypt to cover the political crisis, but Agência Brasil reports that they didn’t manage to produce any stories due to harassment by the authorities.
The indigenous leader and former director of the radio station La Voz de Arutam, José Acacho, was arrested and accused of sabotage and terrorism for allegedly using the station to incite anti-government protests, Fundamedios reports via IFEX. During the 2009 demonstrations, one teacher was killed and 40 soldiers were wounded.
Dissident Cuban journalist Julio César Gálvez, who was freed in July 2010 by Cuba after seven years in prison, complained that the living conditions of his exile in Spain are not what he was promised.