A top government official in Trinidad and Tobago has ordered police to withhold crime statistics from the public and media, the Miami Herald reported Wednesday, Oct. 10.
Organization of American States (OAS) Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Catalina Botero came out against proposed reforms that would limit the power and function of the Inter-American Human Rights System and would affect the defense of freedom of expression in the region, according to the Guatemalan organization Cerigua.
Police detained a photographer for an hour and a half in Colombia on Sunday, Oct. 7, reported the newspaper Vanguardia Liberal. While in custody, the photographer was forced to erase pictures he took while covering a bomb explosion in a city park in Bucaramanga, Santander.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights declared the Colombian government was responsible for the attacks suffered by cameraman Luis Gonzalo "Richard" Vélez Restrepo and the threats he received that prompted him and his family to seek asylum, reported the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP in Spanish) on its website.
Journalist Peter Godwin said he recently met with the governor of Veracruz Javier Duarte to discuss violence against journalists in the Mexican state, even though the politician denied the meeting took place and other alleged participants also said they weren’t there, the Mexican weekly Proceso reported.
One bystander was injured when a grenade exploded at the headquarters of the newspaper Nuevo Día in the state of Falcón, Venezuela, reported the newspaper El Universal.
Journalism is the biggest loser in the confrontation between the government of Argentina and some of the country’s biggest media companies, according to a recent report from the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The International Press Institute (IPI) decried government harassment of investigative reporters in Trinidad and Tobago and accused the islands' communications ministry of abusing a dormant broadcasting rule, reported the organization on Thursday, Oct. 4, and Friday, Oct. 5.
A journalist was placed in solitary confinement for five hours after trying to interview an official in the city of Saavedra, Buenos Aires, reported the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA in Spanish).
Venezuela journalist Leonardo León tweeted on Sept. 30, that he had received threats on his Twitter feed from a government supporter known as "imperatus josue," reported the press freedom group Public Space.
Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez and her husband Reinaldo Escobar were arrested on Thursday Oct. 4, Europa Press reported.
A radio broadcaster was bombed on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 4, reported the newspaper ABC. According to the website Última Hora, two self-identified members of the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP in Spanish) set off two explosives after bursting into the offices of the radio station Guyra Campana in the city of Horqueta, Concepción.