In the Brazilian city of Aral Moreira, Mato Grosso do Sul, the creator of the website and print publication O Arrastão, journalist Geraldo Ferreira, was threatened online in the comments section of his website, reported MS Já on Monday, Jan. 16.
Brazilian police alerted a Paraguayan journalist of a plot to kill him, reported the newspaper Última Hora. The plot to kill Cándido Figueredo, correspondent for ABC Color in Pedro Juan Caballero, Paraguay, was discovered by Brazilian authorities after intercepting a telephone call.
Argentine editor Alejandro Alfie accused businessman and owner of the media conglomerate Grupo Veintetrés, Sergio Szpolski, of threatening him over the phone for writing about the business in the newspaper Clarín, reported the newspaper La Nación.
On Sunday, Jan. 15, drug users attacked photojournalists who were reporting in a central area of São Paulo, Brazil, known as "Crackland," reported the website Band News.
A Mexican photojournalist was beaten and arrested by police in the border city of Ciudad Juárez after the police were photographed arresting an indigent person, according to the Center for Journalism and Public Ethics (CEPET in Spanish).
Honduran independent journalist and human rights activist Itsmania Pineda Platero reported that she has been receiving constant death threats over the phone, according to Reporters Without Borders.
After the prime suspect behind the conspiracy to kill a Paraguayan journalist was freed on Dec. 31, 2011, the crime's perpetrators are now soliciting their own release on Jan. 10, reported the newspaper Vanguardia.
The Inter American Press Association's annual review of press freedom found 2011 to be one of the most "challenging and tragic years" for the region's journalists, the association (IAPA) said in a statement.
A Bolivian journalist filed charges of racial discrimination against the mayor of Santa Cruz after the mayor insulted the journalist, comparing him to a donkey during a press conference, reported the newspapers La Razón and El Deber on Jan. 3.
The Brazilian newspaper Diário do Litoral claimed that its journalists have been intimidated following the publication of a story accusing a beach condominium's security team in the southern coastal city of Guarujá of operating as a "militia," the newspaper stated in a letter released by the website Red on Jan. 2.
The December holidays did not bring a respite for journalists under attack in Honduras. The Committee for Freedom of Expression in Honduras (C-Libre in Spanish) expressed concern that members of the National Police threatened a cameraman with death and intimidated a television correspondent during the last days of 2011. As a result, the Spanish organization Christian Action for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT in Spanish) sent a letter to Honduran president Porfirio Lobo demanding efficient measures to stop aggression against journalists in Honduras, reported El Heraldo.
Brazilian journalist Laécio de Souza was shot to death the afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 3, in the metropolitan area of Salvador, the capital city of the state of Bahia, reported G1. Police said the radio reporter had received threats on his cell phone minutes before he was killed, according to the news site Itaberaba Notícias.