During the first six months of 2012, 72 journalists were killed worldwide, a 33 percent increase over the same period the year before, according to a report published on Monday, July 2, by the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC).
On Sunday, July 1, an Ecuadorian journalist was shot nine times and killed by two men on a motorcycle close to his house in the town of El Triunfo, about 38 miles from the coastal city of Guayaquil, reported the Ecuadorian NGO Fundamedios.
Journalistic organizations in Mexico say that journalists are working in an especially hostile environment as the Sunday, July 1 presidential, congressional, and mayoral elections approach.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has warned about a new wave of threats and harassment against Cuban journalists.
In less than two weeks, a third radio station was attacked with dynamite in Bolivia, in the southeastern city of Oruro, during the early morning hours on Tuesday, June 26, the Sole Union Confederation of Rural Workers of Bolivia (CSUTCB in Spanish) reported, according to the Fide News Agency (ANF in Spanish).
Just one week from presidential elections in Mexico, a Mexican journalist was stabbed on Sunday, June 24, before entering his house in the city of Oaxaca, in the southeastern part of the country, reported the Center for Journalism and Public Ethics (CEPET in Spanish).
A Mexican official confirmed that journalist Stephania Cardoso is currently under the protection of the federal government, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported Friday, June 22.
With the Venezuelan presidential elections just three months away, attacks against the press and journalists will most likely increase, warned the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). WAN-IFRA visited Venezuela from June 4-6 and found that independent media were polarized and weakened.
A Peruvian journalist was hospitalized after being brutally attacked in the province of Calca, department of Cuzco, after criticizing the local mayor, whom the journalist blamed for the attack, reported the news outlet Enlace Nacional.
A month has passed since a freelance photojournalist from Texas working in Mexico has been heard from, reported the television station Fox 29 of San Antonio the night of Thursday, June 21.