Some journalists in Peru have interpreted as velied threats against freedom of expression the words of president-elect Ollanta Humala during a visit to Ecuador when he met with Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, who has a tense relationship with the press, which he has characterized as "corrupt."
The Press and Society Institute (IPYS) issued two alerts for journalists who were attacked and threatened on university campuses in Peru and Venezuela.
After Peru's polarized elections in which the mainstream media was accused of fronting a disinformation campaign, what is the role of journalism since the victory of Ollanta Humala? The renowned journalist Augusto Álvarez Rodrich wrote in La República: "Journalism that attempts to exercise the profession with decency and independence now has to proceed, with rigor, to monitor the new government, including the completion of its promises... There is no blank check, president-elect Ollanta Humala".
Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa canceled his column in the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio in protest of its "information manipulation" during the ongoing presidential election campaign, according to the news agency EFE. The protest is part of various critiques against the newspaper for supporting candidate Keiko Fujimori and for its impartial election coverage.
A week before the second round of presidential voting between Keiko Fujimori and Ollanta Humala, a Calandria Social Communicators Association study says that the El Comercio media company has taken Fujimori’s side in the race, the Inter Press Service reports.
Peruvian police have captured a suspect in the May 3 killing of radio journalist Julio César Castillo Narváez, Perú 21 reports.
Two reporters were attacked by a Peruvian presidential candidate's bodyguards, while two other journalists reported threats and censorship as the tension continues to grow in the buildup to the second round of voting in the presidential election, the Press and Society Institute (IPYS) reports via IFEX.
The criminal court of Lima, Perú, began a new trial for the killing of a journalist, named Alberto Rivera, who was shot by hitmen in April 2004 after denouncing a mayor for corruption, according to La República.
César Lévano, director of the Peruvian newspaper La Primera, and Arturo Belaúnde, president of the same newspaper, received funeral wreaths in the midst of a tense presidential election campaign, according to La República.
A group of nearly 100 individuals attacked a car driven by journalist Jaime Althaus, who works for the El Comercio-owned Canal N TV, Peru.com reports.
On May 3, media workers all over Latin American used World Press Freedom Day to denounce violence against reporters and media outlets and to demand protection, as new reports showed that the region has become one the most dangerous in the world to practice journalism. Press Freedom Day was also marred by the news that two journalists, one in Brazil and another in Peru, were shot to death in separate incidents.
While activists worldwide celebrated World Press Freedom Day on May 3, the violent death of a Peruvian radio journalist that same day was a stark reminder of the dangers faced by media workers. La República reports that Julio César Castillo Narváez was shot to death in the city of Virú, 340 miles to the northeast of Lima.