The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) asked Brazilian federal courts on Tuesday to take up the murder case of Brazilian sports journalist Valério Luiz de Oliveira who was murdered in the state of Goiás on July 5, 2012.
As Brazil begins its investigation into claims that the U.S. spied on the communications of President Dilma Rousseff, Brazilian lawmakers are seeking federal protection for journalist Glenn Greenwald and his partner David Miranda, RT.com reported. Legislators say Greenwald and Miranda need to be protected due to the importance of their testimony on the probe.
The Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism (Abraji in Portuguese) registered 21 cases of violations against 20 journalists during the protests on Saturday, Sept. 7. Police agents were behind 85% of the attacks -- or 18 cases -- most of which involved the use of pepper spray. The number may increase as more cases are confirmed.
Reporters Without Borders condemned the arrest of four independent journalists in Mexico City on Sunday Sept. 1 while they covered a protest against the education reform proposed by President Enrique Peña Nieto.
The press corps in Guatemala denounced new acts of agression against reporters in the country. The daily newspaper Siglo 21 claimed that indigenous reporter Lucrecia Mateo was assaulted on Sunday, Aug. 25, when she tried to cover a meeting about the installation of a hydroelectric dam in the Guatemalan department of Huehuetango. A group of opposition protesters beat the reporter and robbed her camera equipment, according to the news agency AFP.
More than 20 journalists have been attacked or threatened while reporting on the national strike that has brought Colombia’s agriculture industry to a standstill since August 18, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
A new period of violence against freedom of the press has begun in Guatemala, said the UN's special rapporteur for freedom of expression Frank La Rue in an opinion piece denouncing the recent wave of aggressions against journalists in the country.
The Civic Association for Communication and Information for Women (CIMAC in Spanish) released a report yesterday on violence against female journalists in Mexico. The document details the types of offenders, forms of violence, age and marital status of almost 100 journalists who have been attacked or intimidated in the last decade.
The director of a Guatemalan newspaper accused the government of trying to enter his house on two separate occasions last week, reported Spanish news agency EFE. However, federal officials denied that the agents had the intention of entering his home or intimidating him.
The house of journalist and blogger Angelo Rigon was the target of five gunshots in the morning hours of Sunday, Aug. 11, in the town of Maringá (Paraná), reported the newspaper O Diário. The journalist was at home during the attack, but he was not injured. Rigon runs a blog that publishes news and analyses about regional politics.
The director of the Brasilia bureau for the Brazilian magazine Época, Diego Escosteguy, announced that he received insult-filled and threatening messages through Facebook from an anonymous user on Saturday, Aug. 10.
Two reporters from Nicaragua have asked for asylum to the United States after receiving death threats, according to the daily La Prensa.