The Venezuelan National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) seized equipment from four radio stations in the northeastern state of Mongas for allegedly not having the appropriate license, reported the Press and Society Institute (IPYS in Spanish) on Dec. 1.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF in French) criticized Guatemala's General Telecommunications Law, which allows for the nearly automatic renewal of radio and television frequencies for 25 years to those who already leased them.
After arguments from the National Federation of Journalists (Fenaj in Portuguese) and similar journalist groups, senators approved a bill to amend the Constitution that requires practicing journalists to have an advanced degree on Nov. 30.
Human Rights Watch asked the Ecuadorian government to repeal all insult and defamation laws against public officials, the New York-based human rights organization announced.
Faring about on par with Asia, better than Africa but worse than Europe, only about 38 percent of countries in Latin America were fully responsive to freedom of information requests filed by the Associated Press (AP) as part of a 105-country-wide project, the AP told the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. In general, more than half of countries don't abide by their freedom of information laws, MediaBistro noted.
Two Mexicans accused of terrorism and sabotage for posting false rumors over Facebook and Twitter were freed Sept. 21 after spending a month in jail, reported Reuters.
Former Brazilian president and current senator, Fernando Collor de Melo, along with another ex-president and current president of the Senate, José Sarney, executed a "maneuver" to slow the vote on an information access bill in the Congress,
Peruvian authorities revoked the broadcasting license of Radio Líder after a radio host incited the public to kill foreign tourists, according to the Gaceta Ucayalina.
The Ecuadorean Telecommunications Superintendency (Supertel) announced that it would seek to punish seven radio broadcasters for a simultaneous broadcast of a debate on freedom of expression without first notifying the authorities.
Following criticism, Panamanian Representative Rubén Frías Ortega of the Cambio Democrático party will withdraw his bill that would regulate journalists' salaries, reported the newspaper La Estrella.