Nicaragua could extradite 18 Mexicans who impersonated Televisa television journalists as part of a money laundering scheme, reported the news agency DPA.
The Journalists' Union of Panama reported a 275-percent increase in the number of press freedom attacks in 2012, according the news agency Xinhua.
A lawsuit filed by the head of the Argentine Federal Revenue Administration (AFIP in Spanish) against a journalist was denied for the second time, reported the newspaper La Nación.
A court in Ecuador denied an injunction that sought to rescind an executive order from President Rafael Correa prohibiting his ministers and other public officials from giving interviews to private media, arguing that there was no evidence of a "violation of a constitutional right".
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) admitted the case of murdered Colombian journalist Hernando Rangel Moreno, reported the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) in a press release on its website on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012.
Mexican television network Televisa requested the attorney general of Nicaragua invesitgate whether a current employee of the broadcaster signed the letter of accreditation presented by 18 Mexicans accused of money laundering while impersonating journalists in the Central American country, according to El Siglo de Torreón. Nicaraguan authorities charged the Mexicans who posed as Televisa reporters and tried to enter the country on Aug. 20 without declaring $9.2 million.
Journalists unions in Bolivia rejected the Life and Disability Insurance Law for Press Workers enacted by President Evo Morales on Monday, Dec. 10, reported the website Los Tiempos. The proposed insurance would be paid for with one percent of the monthly total gross revenue of public and private media organizations and managed by a board with majority State representation, added the website.
A lawsuit brought against two journalists by a government official in Argentina sparked outcry from the media, according to the newspaper Clarín. The head of the Federal Revenue Administration (AFIP in Spanish), Ricardo Echegaray, sued journalists Matías Longoni and Luis Majul separately for "damages and harm," added the newspaper. The official asked for almost $275,000 in restitution from each.
El Salvador's Supreme Court declared some of President Mauricio Funes' September 2011 recommendations for the Access to Public Information Law unconstitutional, according to El Faro.
The Brazilian media company Record, owner of the eponymous television broadcaster and the news website R7, was sentenced to pay almost $24,000 in moral damages to the Globo network host William Waack after republishing a blog post alleging Waack was an informant for the U.S. government.
Costa Rica’s highest court temporarily suspended the controversial Information Crimes Law that could send journalists and other individuals to prison for up to eight years for revealing government secrets, reported the newspaper La Nación on Saturday, Nov. 24.
After being criticized for naming journalists in a lawsuit over inciting violence, the Argentine media giant Clarín clarified in a statement that the reporters were mentioned only as possible witnesses.