Latin American journalists increasingly are facing legal threats to freedom of expression, according to experts on the panel "The Legal Threats to Press Freedom: From the Old Criminal Defamation Laws to the Newest Attempts to Regulate the Internet," during the 10th annual Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas organized by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas and the Open Society Fondations, held May 20-22 in Austin, Texas.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has called on the Venezuelan government to end its defamation campaign against the newspaper Notitarde, IAPA announced on its website on Friday, May 18. According to IAPA, the campaign is a "a malicious discrediting maneuver" initiated by federal and state legislators of the ruling party.
The Bolivian Senate has proposed a bill that would regulate social networks, and would be attached to the Law to Fight Against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination, reported the news site Eju TV.
Brazilian radio journalist José Luiz Datena, said on Tuesday, May 15, on his morning radio show that the station was suffering pressure from the mayor of São Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, due to the accusations that the journalist made on his TV program Brasil Urgente, according to the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo. Because of this, the journalist threatened to go off the air, reported Yahoo.
As the investigation into the kidnapping and killing of Honduran journalist Alfredo Villatoro, continues, the local press is reporting on possible motives and suspects behind the crime.
A bomb exploded in Bogota, Colombia, almost taking the life of ex-official turned journalist Fernando Londoño Hoyos, and leaving at least two dead and 40 people injured while creating chaos, panic, and confusion in the capital on Tuesday, May 15, reported the Daily News and the news agency EFE.
At least three Argentine journalists were threatened in recent days, reported the radio station FM Activa. To be a journalist in Argentina is becoming a harder task; aside from having many problems with a government that refuses to respect freedom of information and of the press, lately, the attacks and threats against journalists are becoming more frequent in the country.
On Monday, May 14, the Newseum held a special re-dedication ceremony for its Journalists Memorial, adding the names of the 70 journalists who died on the job in 2011 and two who died in previous years, reported MediaBistro.
The night of Thursday, May 10, the same day Bolivian president Evo Morales criticized the press for twisting information, the president launched a digital, HD version of the official state-run digital TV channel, Bolivia TV HD, with the alleged goal of "democratizing communication" and promoting cultural diversity, reported the newspaper La Razón and the Argentine digital news site Télam.
Although the headquarters of the Mexican newspaper El Mañana suffered an armed attack in the border city of Nuevo Laredo on the night of Friday, May 11; the reporters of the newspaper managed to finish Saturday's edition and return to work on the next day, reported the newspaper Detroit Free Press. Not even a grenade can stop the presses in Mexico,” was the headline for the Detroit Free Press, which highlighted the armed attack against the newspaper.
More than 100 Argentine journalists called for the government to guarantee access to public information, and for there to be press conferences, which, according to Argentine journalists, almost don't exist in the country, reported the news agency La Información, and the newspaper Clarín.
Brazilian Rep. Márcio Reinaldo Moreira slapped a reporter from the TV program Custe o que Custar (CQC) in the face, the night of Tuesday, May 8, in Brasilia, reported the portal UOL. Reporter Felipe Andreoli, victim of the attack, was interviewing the representative about the proposed constitutional amendment on slave work in Brazil and asked the politician if he didn't think it was unfair for the people to have to wait so long for such proposal to be voted on, according to the news site R7.