Carmen Aristegui, one of Mexico’s most well-known journalists, said her country “is experiencing a profound crisis in terms of human rights, including killings and disappearances of journalists and [other] people.”
Journalists covering mass protests against the Venezuelan government of President Nicólas Maduro fought to carry out their work despite restrictions in the form of government detentions, physical attacks and harassment during the Oct. 26 “Toma de Venezuela” (Taking of Venezuela).
At least six journalists were victims of different attacks after a pro-government group violently entered the Venezuelan National Assembly (AN) on Oct. 23, according to freedom of expression organization Espacio Público.
The detentions of at least two community journalists and attacks on at least two other reporters covering evictions from a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, have generated criticisms against the Military Police in this city who are accused of violating freedom of expression.
Two Venezuelan news outlets suffered attacks from armed men in the past three days.
Freelance Mexican journalist Lucia López Castillo survived a shooting outside her home in Poza Rica, Veracruz on the night of Aug. 21.
Special Rapporteurs at the UN and Inter-American Commission communicated their concerns about the deterioration of media freedom to the Venezuelan government in attempts to open a dialogue with authorities and improve the situation for journalists in the country.
Salvador Olmos García, a 31-year-old community radio host, is dead after being run over by a police car in Huajuapan de León, Oaxaca on June 26.
In one of the most violent events for the press this year in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, at least 19 media workers were attacked while covering protests taking place on June 2, according to the human rights advocacy organization Espacio Público.
The Spanish journalist Salud Hernández-Mora disappeared on Saturday May 21 at noon in the municipality of El Tarra, while investigating the eradication of illegal crops in the region of Catatumbo in the Colombian department of Norte de Santander, according to Reuters.