Amidst the new wave of violence against the Mexican press, including the killing of two journalists in two weeks, the discovery of a journalist's body in a secret grave, and the kidnapping of a reporter, journalists and press freedom organizations are doubting whether freedom of expression truly exists in Mexico.
The Attorney General of Colombia has accused a former deputy chief of the secret police of instigating the murder of journalist and humorist Jaime Garzón, perpetrated by the paramilitary almost twelve years ago, reported El Heraldo.
Journalist Miguel Ángel López Velasco, a security and drug trafficking expert, was killed in his home with his wife and son in the eastern port city of Veracruz, The Associated Press reports. López is the second Mexican journalist killed in less than a week, in the midst of unrelenting attacks against the press, which also includes the kidnapping of another reporter 11 days ago.
With the Mexican press still reeling from the recent disappearance of one journalist and the appearance in a hidden grave of the body of another journalist, now local media are reporting the June 14 killing of reporter Pablo Ruelas Barraza in Huatabampo, in the northern Mexican state of Sonora.
Radio journalist Nelson Hernández was stabbed to death in the wee hours Wednesday, June 8, in Izalco, west of the capital of El Salvador, as he was headed to work at the radio station SKY, reported El Universal.
Youths from the slum German Complex in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro paid tribute to assassinated journalist Tim Lopes on Thursday, June 2, nine years after the reporter was killed in that same region, according to G1.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released its annual Impunity Index, which ranks three Latin American countries among those where killers of journalist regularly escape justice, The Associated Press reports.
The Mexican police found the body of journalist Noel López Olguín in a clandestine grave in Chinameca, Veracruz, The Associated Press and Milenio report. The journalist disappeared March 8, presumably kidnapped by drug traffickers.
Peruvian police have captured a suspect in the May 3 killing of radio journalist Julio César Castillo Narváez, Perú 21 reports.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) is urging Mexican President Felipe Calderón to renew investigative efforts into the 2008 killing of journalist Armando Rodríguez, IAPA said in a press release May 26.
After avoiding prison for more than a decade due to appeals, Brazil’s top court has said reporter Pimenta Neves must serve his 15-year sentence for murdering his ex-girlfriend shortly after their breakup in 2000, The Associated Press reports.
Barely a week after Honduran journalist Francisco Medina Polanco was killed, Luis Mendoza – the owner of the Canal 24 TV station – was gunned down by masked men on May 19, 2011, The Associated Press reports.