Four Mexican photojournalists reported being victims of police abuse while covering teacher manifestations on Saturday in the state of Veracruz (east of the country), informed Reporters Without Borders. According to the RWB report, agents of the Ministry of Public Safety beat the journalists and took their equipment.
The role of journalists as guardians of democracy faces more dangers each and every day due to an increase in organized crime and government repression and corruption in the Western Hemisphere, said Carlos Lauría, the Senior Americas Program Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in front of the US House of Representatives Thursday.
The Ecuadorian government has proposed penalizing individuals who express opinions that could be considered defamatory on social media, freedom of expression non-profit Fundamedios reported.
The Regional Alliance for Freedom of Expression and Information, a coalition of several organizations from 19 countries in Latin America and the U.S., wrote an open letter to senators and other Uruguayan officials expressing its concern over a series of proposed amendments to the country's Law on Public Access of Information. According to the group, the proposed changes are "regressive" in nature and could significantly limit citizens' access to government information.
Journalist Antônio Fabiano Portilho Coene, the owner of news Portal i9 was kidnapped on Monday Sept. 9 by armed men in the city of Campo Grande in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, website Diario do Estado informed.
As Brazil begins its investigation into claims that the U.S. spied on the communications of President Dilma Rousseff, Brazilian lawmakers are seeking federal protection for journalist Glenn Greenwald and his partner David Miranda, RT.com reported. Legislators say Greenwald and Miranda need to be protected due to the importance of their testimony on the probe.
The Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism (Abraji in Portuguese) registered 21 cases of violations against 20 journalists during the protests on Saturday, Sept. 7. Police agents were behind 85% of the attacks -- or 18 cases -- most of which involved the use of pepper spray. The number may increase as more cases are confirmed.
Reporters Without Borders condemned the arrest of four independent journalists in Mexico City on Sunday Sept. 1 while they covered a protest against the education reform proposed by President Enrique Peña Nieto.
A court in Paraná state, located in the south of Brazil, prohibited the newspaper Gazeta do Povo from publishing information about the ongoing investigations against the head judge of the State Supreme Court, appellate judge Clayton Camargo, in yet another case of judicial censorship in Brazil, reported the newspaper Zero Hora.
More than 20 journalists have been attacked or threatened while reporting on the national strike that has brought Colombia’s agriculture industry to a standstill since August 18, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Without any proof or evidence, Mexican journalist Jesús Lemus Barajas was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of drug trafficking, only to get his freedom back after serving three years in maximum security jail, according to Reporters Without Borders.
A new period of violence against freedom of the press has begun in Guatemala, said the UN's special rapporteur for freedom of expression Frank La Rue in an opinion piece denouncing the recent wave of aggressions against journalists in the country.