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.
The judge presiding over Bolivia’s Supreme Electoral Court, Wilfredo Ovando, rejected efforts by journalism groups to hold a referendum on two controversial articles in the recently approved anti-racism law, EFE reports. The new rules were signed into law by President Evo Morales last week, igniting protests from activists and journalists who argue the law violates freedom of expression.
Panamanian journalists have joined forces to demand more respect for freedom of expression and to express objections over legal setbacks in the area, reported La Prensa.
Despite a growing need for transparency and access to information in the public sector, Brazil remains one of the few Latin American countries that still has not approved a freedom of information (FOI) law. The relatively weak news media coverage of a freedom of information law in Brazil is one of the key factors that can explain why proposals have been floating around Congress since 2003 without finding closure and, consequently, why citizens still have no right to access information. While an information access bill was introduced in Congress in May 2009, it still is awaiting approval in the Senate.
Luz del Carmen Sosa Carrizosa and Sandra Rodríguez of the newspaper Diario de Juárez won the "Reporteros del Mundo" prize awarded by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo in recognition of their “extraordinary valor” in covering drug trafficking and the killing of women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.