The National Union for Press Workers in Venezuela (SNTP in Spanish) accused the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) of detaining 41 persons, of whom at least two were foreign journalists who say they were beaten and robbed of their equipment during a protest on Friday, Feb. 28.
News organization Grupo Editorial Noroeste, from the Mexican state of Sinaloa, demanded on Feb. 25 protection from federal agencies for journalists who were threatened for reporting stories on recently arrested drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, reported Noroeste.
Two gunmen shot and killed Yonni Steven Caicedo, a 21-year-old Colombian cameraman for TV Noticias and Más Noticias, on Feb. 19 in the Comuna 12 section of the city of Buenaventura, according to the the Press Freedom Foundation (FLIP).
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), a U.S. based organization, called upon officials in the U.S and Mexico Saturday to increase protections for Mexican reporters. The request comes following the murder of journalist Gregorio Jimenez de la Cruz and the government's controversial investigation of the killing that has caused international outcry.
More than a hundred Honduran journalists and media workers were threatened or attacked between 2010 and 2013, according to a Feb. 18 announcement by the Committee for Human Rights (CONADEH), reported El Heraldo.
Three journalists were given police protection after receiving threats for publishing investigative pieces about a criminal organization that operates near Godoy Cruz, Mendoza.
A group of journalists and defenders of freedom of expression called for Mexican citizens to protest the insecurity and violence faced by press workers in the country on Sunday, Feb. 23. The group announced their call to action through a press statement given in Veracruz on Sunday, Feb. 16.
After finding the body of Mexican reporter Gregorio Jiménez de la Cruz on Feb. 11, Veracruz state authorities said the kidnapping and killing were likely motivated by personal vengeance -- something other journalists are finding hard to believe, the Associated Press reported.
Álvaro Dias, senator for the Social Democratic Party of Brazil (PSDB-PR), asked the Brazilian Senate on Feb. 10 to consider giving protection to Fábio Porchat, the director of Porta dos Fundos, due to various death threats made against the satirist Brazilian humor site, G1 reported on Feb. 11.
Northern Mexico has fallen into a state of fear creating a silenced media that is less willing to report crime and take on investigative pieces, according a recent University of Arizona study.
Mexican journalist Gregorio Jiménez de la Cruz, a reporter who covers the crime beat in the dangerous southeastern state of Veracruz, was kidnapped on Feb. 5 near his home by a group of armed men, news magazine Proceso reported.
The Spanish freelance photographer Borja Lázaro is still missing after disappearing on Jan. 8 in the Colombian northeastern department of La Guajira, infamous for drug trafficking and a growing presence of “Bacrim” - criminal paramilitary gangs – Reporters Without Borders informed.