A radio reporter known for his crime reporting was shot dead in the city of Jaguaribe, Ceará on Friday, Feb. 22, according to the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo. He was the second journalist killed in Brazil this year. The first killed also worked for a radio station in a community north of Rio de Janeiro.
On Saturday, Feb. 23, two gunmen shot and killed a Peruvian photojournalist for the newspaper El Comercio, reported the website Perú 21. The attack sparked debate about the public's security, the risks journalists run and how the media covers violence.
The second witness to the April 2012 murder of Brazilian journalist Décio Sá has died after being shot seven times during an attack in January, said the newspaper Estado de S. Paulo.
Regina Martínez, a Mexican journalist who was killed in the city of Xalapa, Veracruz last year, will have a street in Oviedo, Spain named after her, reported news agency EFE.
The owner of radio station Sin Fronteras 98.5 FM Marcelino Váquez was gunned down and killed on Wednesday Feb. 6 in front of his work place in Pedro Juan Caballero, Paraguay, near the border with Brazil, website Paraguay.com informed.
The Internal Affairs Office of the Colombian police accused an officer of involuntary manslaughter for the death of journalist Guillermo Quiroz Delgado, reported the newspaper El Universal. The disciplinary hearing of officer Jorge David Pérez took place on Monday, Feb. 4, at the Sucre department police headquarters, the newspaper added.
The Attorney General of Maranhão, Regina Lúcia de Almeida Rocha, claimed last week that the defense in the trial for the murder of journalist Décio Sá is attempting to “delay the course of proceedings” against the accused, said G1.
After seven months of investigation, police in the Brazilian state of Goiás are closer to solving the killing of sports commentator Valério de Oliveira. Last Friday, Feb. 1, police arrested three suspects for the crime, reported the newspaper Diário da Manhã. The following day, the former deputy chairman of the Goiás Atheletic Club Maurício Sampaio was also arrested for alledgedly ordering the killing.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), a branch of the Organization of American States, decided to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Brazilian journalist Vladimir Herzog in 1975, during the military dictatorship.
Argentine police are investigating the death of a sports reporter whose body was found in the Racing Club soccer team's swimming pool, a place where a fan club called the Imperial Guard is known to meet, reported the newspaper La Nación.
Violence and abuses committed against Brazilian journalists during the military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985 will now be closely investigated by the Memory, Truth and Justice Commission, launched by the National Federation of Journalists.
Brazil got off to a tragic start to the new year with the first killing of a journalist in 2013. The new year, however, also saw the launch of the Vlado Journalist Protection campaign, organized by the Vladimir Herzog Institute (IVH in Portuguese).