The National Assembly has expanded the powers of the Venezuelan Executive by granting the president decree powers and the authority to further regulate telecommunications, The Associated Press and Reuters report.
A panel of experts charged with developing a new broadcast law in Uruguay has submitted its final report to the industry minister and will be presented to President José Mujica in the second half of 2011, El País newspaper and the Prensa Latina news agency report.
Starting Dec. 14, Venezuela’s National Assembly will begin to work on reforming the Social Responsibility on Radio and Television Law to include internet services and digital media, El Impulso and Europa Press report.
President-elect Dilma Rousseff said the only control on the media should be a TV's “remote control,” O Estado de S. Paulo reports. The remarks were seen as a signal that Rousseff would not send a media bill to congress with provisions that regulate radio and TV content.
The Brazilian government is preparing the first version of a bill to establish a new regulatory framework for telecommunications, which includes a new National Communications Agency (Agência Nacional de Comunicação – ANC) with the power to regulate radio and TV content, Folha de S. Paulo reports.
The Bolivian government has rejected a proposal to modify two controversial parts of the recently passed anti-racism law that critics say violate freedom of expression, Los Tiempos reports. The petition was written by four press groups who gathered at least 32,000 signatures in support of reforming the law.
Uruguay's president, José Mujica, said he is tired of being asked about the possibility of a potential law regulating the press. In an interivew published by the Argentine newspaper La Nación, the president said he had not received any proposals for such a law, and that if he did, he would throw them in the trash.
After 17 months of debate, the Legislative Assembly in El Salvador approved a law requiring state institutions to make information available to the public, reported El Faro. The law still must be signed by President Mauricio Funes.
The national telecom regulator, Conatel, has urged that the law governing TV and radio broadcasts be modified to include Internet content, El Universal and El Tiempo report.
In his first news conference held exclusively for bloggers, outgoing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva strongly criticized traditional media, saying he had quit reading the opposition press, O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reports. Among his plans after leaving office Jan. 1, Lula says he’ll blog and tweet, Spain’s El País says.
The Bolivian government has finished a series of public debates in nine regions of the country to discuss how the new anti-racism law will be enforced, Prensa Latina reports. According to Los Tiempos, the rules should be ready before the end of the year.
President Fernando Lugo vetoed proposed changes to the Telecommunications Law that would have restricted the signal strength of community radio and prevented stations from selling advertising, Última Hora and Terra report. The veto was announced Nov. 12.