A Brazilian reporter said he was attacked by the mayor of Ipu, a city in the northeastern state of Ceará, while covering a city council meeting on Jan. 6, reported the website Crato.org.
The Inter American Press Association's annual review of press freedom found 2011 to be one of the most "challenging and tragic years" for the region's journalists, the association (IAPA) said in a statement.
Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli lambasted news media owners during a speech Monday, Jan. 2, before the Legislative Assembly, reported the Associated Press. During the speech, Martinelli, who also owns a chain of supermarkets, highlighted the achievements of his administration, such as a reduction in poverty and a 10 percent growth in the economy, contrasting these successes with the media criticisms against him coming from owners upset over paying taxes, according to the news agency AFP.
Mexican newspapers El Diario de Coahuila and El Heraldo de Saltillo criticized the private security business Serviprose, whose guards are accused of attacking and stealing from reporters in the northern city of Saltillo, for failing to comply with an agreement to pay damages.
An Argentine television reporter and cameraman were beaten, threatened with death, and ordered to strip when they tried to cover a human trafficking story about Bolivian families on a farm in the western province of Mendoza on Dec. 29, reported the official news agency Télam and Diario Uno.
A radio broadcaster was attacked live on the air by an assailant who invaded the studios of community radio station CS FM in the Brazilian city of Canoas in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, reported G1.
The Mexican newspaper La Jornada de Guerrero claimed that one of its reporters was beaten and jailed in the southern city of Chilpancingo.
A government employee attacked a reporter for the newspaper La Prensa Gráfica in El Salvador while she tired to film a union party on Dec. 8, reported the newspaper.
In Venezuela, a journalist and photographer were attacked by city police Nov. 30, reported the International Freedom of Expression Exchange reported Wednesday, Dec. 7.
A Brazilian photojournalist was forcibly removed from a military police strike he was covering at the legislative assembly of São Luis in the state of Maranhão on the morning of Dec. 1, reported the website Gazeta da Ilha.