Two days after the killing of a Brazilian political journalist in the state of Río de Janeiro, Brazilian reporter Jorge Estevão received a death threat from an unknown person who pointed a gun at him early in the morning of Saturday, Feb. 11, in Cuiabá, the capital city of the state of Mato Grosso, reported HiperNotícias.
Community radio station, Ibicoara FM, was set on fire the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 8, in the city of Ibicoara, located in the Brazilian state of Bahía, reported the blog Minuto Notícias. The door of the station had been forced open, and all of the broadcast equipment was burned.
Because of the recent attacks on press freedom and freedom of expression in Ecuador, the country's president, Rafael Correa, has been criticized in recent days by various journalistic organizations, according to the newspaper La Hora.
Authorities from the Dominican Public Ministry raided the offices of the digital newspaper El Siglo 21 and two residences of journalist Guillermo Gómez on Feb. 10, reported the newspaper El Nacional. Allegedly, José Ángel Gómez Canáan, the journalist's son, participated in a spy network accused of hacking into the e-mail accounts of First Lady Margarita Cedeño de Fernández and several high-ranking bank executives, reported Listín Diario.
Inspired by Colombia's Journalist Day, the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP in Spanish) presented a report expressing its concern over the state of freedom of expression in Colombia. The Colombian Federation of Journalists also released a statement noting that while there were fewer reporters killed in 2011, violence against journalists continues to rise in the Andean country.
A reporting crew from the Venezuelan newspaper Últimas Notícias was detained by the Bolivarian Militia in a hospital in the capital, Caracas, on Feb. 8, reported the website Clases de Periodismo.
Two Ecuadoran journalists have been ordered to pay President Rafael Correa $2 million in moral damages for writing the book "El Gran Hermano" (Big Brother), according to the Associated Press. Juan Carlos Calderón and Christian Zurita wrote the book about the supposed contracts that Fabricio Correa, brother to the president, has with the state.
A former Ecuadorean journalist facing prison and millions of dollars in fines is seeking asylum in the United States, reported the Associated Press on Wednesday, Feb. 8.
Editors of a magazine in the tourist city of Cancún, Mexico, claimed that their publication was pirated on Feb. 5 in violation of the press law, the rights of the authors, and industrial property laws, according to NotiSureste.
An ex-paramilitary member in Colombia was sentenced to 24 years and two months in prison for killing journalist Álvaro Alonso Escobar 10 years ago, reported the Foundation for a Free Press.
Brazilian journalist Valdeck Filho was fired from the TV Aratu police program "In the Crosshairs" on Feb. 3, after declaring his support for the military police strike in the state of Bahia, reported the website Observador Político.
The Bolivian government announced that it will not move forward with a new press law but that it does intend to "bring the work of the press and journalism into line with the new Constitution," reported the television channel Eju TV.