Marvin del Cid Acevedo, part of the investigative team for the Guatemalan newspaper elPeriódico, had his home broken into for a second time, and his laptop, where he stores all the documents associated with his journalistic work, was stolen, reported Cerigua.
Thieves made off with computers and several USB drives from the house of Ignacio Gómez, a TV news host and the president of the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP). For the journalist, one of the targets of illegal spying by the Administrative Department of Security (Colombia’s intelligence agency – DAS), this is the fifth robbery in seven years.
In a meeting with representatives of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Mexico's President Felipe Calderón vowed to put in place by October a plan to protect journalists, similar to one in Colombia, and to launch legal reforms that would make killings of journalists a federal crime, reported the Associated Press and IAPA.
The National Newspaper Association (ANJ), the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters, and the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) condemned statements by President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva that he will “ defeat the papers and magazines that behave as if they were political parties,” O Globo reports.
A group of renowned investigative journalists from throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, who had gathered for the 8th Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas, issued a declaration condemning the violence against journalists that is threatening freedom of expression from Mexico to the Southern Cone.
News that a 21-year-old photography intern was shot to death Thursday in Ciudad Juárez, and that his 18-year-old colleague was wounded, increased the sense of urgency for members of 40 journalist training and safety organizations who gathered in Austin, Texas, Friday and Saturday (Sept. 17–18) for the 8th Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas. The annual gathering focuses this year on the coverage of drug trafficking and organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Luis Galdámez, a reporter for Radio Globo and TV Globo, was attacked by three shooters in front of his house in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, La Tribuna reports. The journalist used his own gun to fight off the attackers.
A female reporter for Mexico's TV Azteca was harassed by football players and a coach during the New York Jets' practice on Saturday, Sept. 11, reported the Associated Press (AP).
Janaina Ribeiro, reporter for Gazetweb, was attacked and robbed the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 8, during a rally in Maceió in support of the candidate for governor of Alagoas in northeast Brazil, Teotonio Vilela Filho.
Two individuals set on fire the motorcycle of journalist Alberto Caballero Parejo, owner of the community radio station Innovación Estéreo (Innovation Stereo) in Ciéanaga, reported El Informador. Neighbors warned the journalist and helped him to put out the fire.
José Raúl Arriaga, a journalist for Univisión Radio in Puerto Rico, was stabbed between 14 and 18 times early on Sept. 7 in the town of Corozal, reported El Nuevo Día. The 37-year-old journalist was taken to the hospital, where he was stable and alert, added Primera Hora.
The National Federation of Journalists (FENAJ) and the Journalists Union of Amapá released a statement condemning the Sept. 3 attack on TV Marco Zero, affiliate of the Record network in Macapá, according to Amapá Digital.