The European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Cuban Guillermo Fariñas, the journalist and dissident who spent more than four months on a hunger strike in an effort to pressure authorities to free political prisoners on the island, reported the Associated Press and BBC.
Journalist Paulo Beringhs, host of a news program on the TV Brasil Central channel, funded by the government of Goiás state, declared live that his station received orders not to interview the opposition candidate for governor, Marconi Perillo, Portal Imprensa reports.
Reporters Without Borders released its annual press freedom index on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010, according to Radio Free Europe.
The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, said he could not meet with a delegation from the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) that arrived in the country Monday, Oct. 18, to discuss the controversial anti-racism law that recently was approved, according to the newspaper La Prensa. Morales said his schedule was full and that he had to travel to Peru for a meeting with President Alan García, according to Prensa Latina.
The Argentine Association of Journalistic Entities (ADEPA in Spanish) is condemning the government of President Cristina Fernández and criticizing government officials' insults and defaming of reporters and the media.
Renowned Dominican journalist Luis Eduardo Lora has reported receiving warnings from the lawyers of two convicted drug traffickers, telling him to retract his writings about them, Diario Libre reports.
The government has begun to plan how it will regulate the new Anti-Racism Law, in spite of protests from press groups against two articles that could punish media outlets with closure and journalists with prison if they spread racist ideas, Jornadanet reports. The bill was signed into law last week, and the government has 90 days to make the regulatory changes necessary for the bill to be enforced.
In a failed attempt to avoid speculations in the press about the health of Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, who is undergoing treatment for lymphatic cancer, the president's brother, Pompeyo Lugo, asked the courts to prevent the media from revealing any information recorded in the official medical reports. The appeal for protection was removed days later, after protests and cries of censorship, according to La Nación.
Two years ago this week, a police raid on a media research center in Managua run by journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro prompted international concern that President Daniel Ortega’s government was persecuting his critics—such as Chamorro—and violating press freedom.
In the midst of a scandal over allegedly slapping a man who called him “corrupt,” President Alan García blamed the media for the incident, Peru.com reports. He claims the media is inciting the population against the government.
During the chaotic episode that began with the police and military protesting and ended in what President Rafael Correa called a coup attempt, Ecuador's media was forced to simulcast the official version of events via a forced link with the state's official channels, reported El Mundo.
Alfredo Felipe Fuentes has arrived in Madrid with 10 family members following his release from prison Oct. 8, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports. Thirteen political prisoners including 17 journalists have been released from Cuban prisons since President Raúl Castro agreed in July to free 52 people.