Journalist Nelson Bocaranda criticized a presumed plan to discredit journalists who comment on controversial political events that happen in Venezuela, reported the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) on Monday, March 12.
In the early morning of Tuesday, March 6, a communications tower of a community radio station was destroyed in Santo Antônio do Leverger, roughly 20 miles from Cuiabá, capital of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. The journalist in charge of the radio station, Júlio Pedroso, said he suspected that the vandalism was tied to political reasons, reported the news site Gazeta Digital.
The radio host of the program "Semicolon," Adolfo Superlano, requested protection from the prosecutor's office as the journalist said he felt threatened and feared being physically abused by officials of the state of Barinas, in southwest Venezuela, reported the network International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) on Friday, March 9.
In a statement, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized the Ecuadorian government for "flagrantly" distorting information about what was discussed during a meeting between HRW and the National Communication Secretary of Ecuador, Fernando Alvarado, where freedom of expression in the country was debated.
Venezuelan journalist Laure Nicotra criticized the arbitrary cancellation of the news program that she had hosted for five years on TV station Canal 7 in the state of Barinas in southeast Venezuela, reported the National Association of Journalists of Caracas.
On Thursday, March 1, a São Paulo court ruled that the newspaper publishing company Folha de Manhã does not have to pay damages to the Universal Church of God's Kingdom, reported the newspaper O Globo. Folha de Manhã publishes the newspaper Folha de São Paulo.
Three Guatemalan journalists were assaulted by prison guards while investigating prison conditions, reported the newspaper Prensa Libre on Wednesday, Feb. 29.
A coalition of about 50 media outlets in Mexico published a statement calling on authorities to guarantee safety for journalists of the newspaper Seminario Zeta, which is published in the border city of Tijuana, and which recently has received threats from a criminal gang, reported the news agency EFE.
Mexican radio and TV media owners filed a petition asking the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate and review the pending sanctions against radio and television stations imposed by election officials, reported the newspaper Milenio.
After pardoning the journalists in a $40 million libel lawsuit against the newspaper El Universo, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa once again attacked the press, saying that in Latin America there exists a "media dictatorship" and that now is the time for "free citizens to rebel against this abuse," reported the news agency EFE.
After being offered asylum in Panama to avoid a $40 million libel lawsuit and three years in prison, one of the owners of the Ecuadoran newspaper El Universo, Carlos Pérez Barriga, arrived in Panama on Saturday, March 3, and met with the country's chancellor, Roberto Henríquez, reported the news agency Ansa Latina. Pérez had sought refuge in the Panamanian embassy in Quito, Ecuador, on Feb. 16.
A team of television journalists from Globovisión in Venezuela was threatened while covering attacks by supporters of President Hugo Hugo Chavez against opposition candidate Henrique Caprilles Radonski in Cotiza, a neighborhood in the capital city of Caracas, according to Globovisión.