Edwin Echeverry, part of the communications team for the mayor's office of Medellín is being "tormented" for criticizing on his personal Facebook page the costs of a fireworks spectacular planned to celebrate the bicentennial, according to the Colombian Federation of Journalists (Fecolper).
The Appellate Court of Carabobo state annulled journalist Francisco “Pancho” Pérez's conviction that had sentenced him to three years and nine months of house arrest and a ban on practicing journalism during his sentence, El Carabobeño reports.
Drug trafficking and transnational organized crime are the among the new threats that Guatemalan journalists are facing, according to study on freedom of expression in the country, EFE reports.
The national telecom regulator, Conatel, has urged that the law governing TV and radio broadcasts be modified to include Internet content, El Universal and El Tiempo report.
Luis Horacio Nájera, who won asylum in Canada two years ago, was honored last week in Toronto by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, for his reporting in the violent border city Ciudad Juárez. His Mexican colleague Emilio Gutiérrez Soto and three journalists from Cameroon were also awarded prizes, The Toronto Star reports.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has praised Peru's decision to create a special jurisdiction to prosecute serious crimes against journalists, calling it "of far-reaching importance for the battle against impunity.” Starting this month, the new jurisdiction will try cases of assassination, serious injuries, kidnapping, and extortion of journalists.
Columnist and satirist Laureano Márquez won the International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) for his independent commentary while under constant harassment from the government of President Hugo Chávez.
The Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Catalina Botero, said access to public information in Brazil is an important tool for understanding what happened during the military dictatorship (1964-1985). She argued that the release of such documents, however, cannot be accompanied by any type of rules on the use of the documents by journalists or other members of the public. "Media outlets have the responsibility to manage news, but beyond guaranteeing access, the law cannot establish restrictions on the use of information,” she said.
The Venezuelan government issued a decree prohibiting the unauthorized use of the “name, image, or figure” of President Hugo Chávez for public works, political and social organizations, or ad campaigns, EFE and AFP report.
President Hugo Chávez said it is not acceptable for the TV station Globovisión to criticize his government, while its majority shareholder, Guillermo Zuloaga, remains a fugitive of Venezuelan justice, The Associated Press reports.
The Bolivian government has finished a series of public debates in nine regions of the country to discuss how the new anti-racism law will be enforced, Prensa Latina reports. According to Los Tiempos, the rules should be ready before the end of the year.
The president of Panama’s National Journalism Council, Guillermo Antonio Adames, reported that he received threats from individuals close to President Ricardo Martinelli, La Estrella and Panamá América report.