Following the October murder of Mexican photojournalist Edgar Esqueda in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, a cellphone video sent to a former police officer spread on the internet. It showed Esqueda, bound and on his knees, offering the names of crime reporters at newspapers across the state. In response, San Luis Potosí Gov. Juan Manuel Carreras ordered immediate protection measures—a police patrol car for every reporter named in the video.
Colombia’s Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP for its acronym in Spanish) rejected threats against journalists Jineth Bedoya Lima and Salud Hernández Mora, as well as political and social leaders, allegedly proffered by a block of the illegal armed group Águilas Negras. The organization also demanded that authorities guarantee protection so that the journalists can continue with their work.
On Nov. 29, the São Paulo Court of Justice (TJ-SP) denied an appeal in the second instance from Brazilian photographer Sérgio Silva, who sought compensation from the State for losing his left eye after being hit by a rubber bullet while covering a protest in São Paulo on June 13, 2013.
Almost four years after the UN General Assembly declared Nov. 2 as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists (IDEI), the date has become a time for media professionals and freedom of expression groups in Latin America and the rest of the world to call attention to levels of violence and impunity affecting their colleagues.
Mexico and Brazil are among the countries that saw the highest increases in impunity ratings in cases of murders of journalists over the past 10 years, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and its 10th Annual Global Impunity Index.
In the course of 9,190 miles and four months, reporters Bob Fernandes and Bruno Miranda visited four Brazilian states to find out who pulled the trigger and who ordered the firing of 36 shots that killed six Brazilian journalists in iconic cases for the country's press.
A Guatemalan court sentenced Sergio Waldemar Cardona Reyes to 30 years in prison for the 2015 murder of journalist Danilo López.
The Colombian National Police is being accused of potentially being responsible for two separate attacks on press freedom on Oct. 8.
Daniel Urresti, former general and former Minister of the Interior during the government of Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, was accused by prosecutor Luis Landa of being the co-author of the 1988 murder of journalist Hugo Bustíos. The prosecutor made this declaration during the current trial against Urresti and asked for 25 years in prison for the former general, newspaper La República reported.
Valuing journalistic work in Mexico, ending impunity of attacks against journalists and strengthening the guild are the preliminary objectives of the participants of the working groups of the #AgendaDePeriodistas initiative, which seeks to create an organization and a working plan to combat violence against the press in that country.