In Veracruz, the Mexican state where nine journalists have been brutally killed in 18 months, state legislators approved the creation of the State Commission for the Care and Protection of Journalists, according to the newspaper El Universal.
Numerous journalists in Peru have been attacked in recent days. On Wednesday, July 4, police attacked at least five journalists who were covering the state of emergency declared in the region of Cajamarca.
On Tuesday, July 3, the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army of Colombia released fliers criticizing the journalistic work of the radio stations Caracol and RCN in the department of Arauca, in northern Colombia.
During the first six months of 2012, 72 journalists were killed worldwide, a 33 percent increase over the same period the year before, according to a report published on Monday, July 2, by the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC).
On Sunday, July 1, an Ecuadorian journalist was shot nine times and killed by two men on a motorcycle close to his house in the town of El Triunfo, about 38 miles from the coastal city of Guayaquil, reported the Ecuadorian NGO Fundamedios.
An intern for the Associated Press (AP) was found dead in Mexico City during the wee hours of Saturday, June 30, the AP reported.
Brazil's National Council of the Attorney General's office approved on June 26 a proposal with recommendations for investigations of crimes against journalists to be thorough, fast, and high-priority, reported the newspaper Estado de S. Paulo.
An Ecuadorian journalist received death threats via an anonymous phone call. The journalist and her family are currently under police protection after filing a complaint, the newspaper El Telégrafo reported.
The U.S. Department of State announced that it has started an investigation into the disappearance of a Mexican American journalist who has reportedly gone missing in Mexico, reported the Fox affiliate in San Antonio.
A Mexican journalist who has been missing for a week ago called a radio program on Friday, June 15, to say that she and her two-year-old son were alive and seeking protection from federal authorities, reported Notimex.
About 25 international organizations that advocate for freedom of expression, as well as more than 50 journalists and news media outlets, many of whom participated in the 10th Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas, signed a petition urging state authorities of Veracruz, as well as the Mexican federal government, to protect the safety of journalists and to solve the nine killings of Veracruz reporters in the last 18 months. The petition was published on Monday, June 18, four days after the killing of reporter Víctor Báez, who was found on Thursday, June 14, in the capital of Veracruz.
A Colombian activist and journalist said that a "narco-paramilitary" team plans to kill him as soon as possible and will pay $200,000 for it to happen, reported the news agency EFE.