Colombians appear to have been more comfortable with continuity than with change by giving President Álvaro Uribe’s former defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos, a win with approximately 47 percent of the vote, and putting him into a second-round runoff June 20 with Antanas Mockus, the BBC reports. Several media from around the world were surprised by such a decisive win by Santos, after polls had predicted a tie with Mockus, El Tiempo reports (Spanish).
Renato Santana, a reporter for the newspaper Tribuna de Santos, has received threats of harm and is facing pressures from prosecutors in São Paulo state after publishing a series of reports showing the operation of death squads in the area of Santos, São Paulo, the Journalists Union of São Paulo reports.
Independent journalist Guillermo (Coco) Fariñas has refused food for nearly three months to protest treatment of political prisoners on the island. His story has been widely reported by English- and Spanish-language media. But on Saturday, he was the source of stories in foreign media that said the Havana regime had agreed to transfer ill prisoners to hospitals and to move prisoners being held far from their hometowns.
A computer technician has confessed to sending false emails to 180 court judges in the state of Rio de Janeiro in the name of journalist Chico Otavio of O Globo newspaper. The messages are said to have been sent at the request of a former high-ranking judge, Roberto Wider, who resigned from his job after a series of news reports co-authored by Otavio last year accused Wider of involvement in fraudulent sentencing deals, O Globo explains.
Journalist Gilvan Luiz Pereira, 41, was kidnapped and tortured by three hooded men Thursday night (May 20), in Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará, the newspaper O Povo reports. Pereira is owner and editor of the regional newspaper “Sem Nome” (Without a name), which opposes the current municipal administration.
The fifth annual freedom of expression award from the Casa América Catalunya honors the work of Diario Co Latino for its defense of freedom of expression and its struggle to solve crimes committed during El Salvador's civil war, EFE reports.
Leiderman Ortiz, editor of the newspaper La Verdad de Pueblo, was unharmed but is fearful for his life after the grenade damaged the front of his home in Caucasia, Antioquia, El Tiempo and El Mundo report.
As part of an offensive against the black market for dollars, President Hugo Chávez urged supporters to use Twitter to blow the whistle on currency speculators and warned that illegal trading sites could be shut down the Associated Press reports.
In the first episode of a special series about violence against Mexican journalists in regions dominated by drug trafficking, CNN Mexico reports that 27 reporters have been threatened in Morelos state alone in central Mexico.
Tim Padgett reports in Time Magazine that two gunmen opened fire on Lucas Manzanares, a close aide to the publisher of one of Honduras’ leading newspapers, sparing him and his wife, who were driving in his pickup truck, but killing his daughter and granddaughter.
Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, an outspoken Chávez opponent and former presidential candidate, had been in the intelligence service's custody since March 22 after saying in a TV interview that Venezuela had become a haven for drug trafficking. He was released from house arrest Thursday (May 14) and ordered not to leave Venezuela or speak about the case with reporters, AFP reports. He must present himself to the court every 15 days.
The Paraguayan Journalists' Union (SPP) says media workers in Ciudad del Este are subject to persecution, firings for political reasons, censorship, and threats, Última Hora reports. The union blames the city’s mayor and her supporters for the abuse.