A team of reporters from the Venezuelan TV channel Televen were attacked on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 10, as shots were fired from the roof of the National Prison of Maracaibo, better known as the Sabaneta prison, in the state of Zulia.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) called the Venezuelan Supreme Court's decision to seize the assets of the TV station Globivisión for not paying a fee in 2011 a "blatant attack on press freedom."
On Thursday, June 28, Venezuela's Supreme Court declared an "executive embargo" on the holdings of television station Globovisión until the station pays a $5.6 million fine for covering riots at the prison El Rodeo.
Journalists feeling that they are not adequately represented by the National Journalists Union (CNP) of Venezuela on June 27 created the Journalists Platform, a parallel organization to the CNP.
Roughly 100 Venezuelan journalists based in the United States have created an association in Miami aimed representing members' interests and improving professionalism, reported El Universal.
With the Venezuelan presidential elections just three months away, attacks against the press and journalists will most likely increase, warned the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). WAN-IFRA visited Venezuela from June 4-6 and found that independent media were polarized and weakened.
The city of San Fernando, in the Venezuelan state of Apure, removed the Friday, June 8, edition of the weekly magazine Notisemana from circulation for not having a filed registration with the city's Autonomous Tax Service, reported Globovisión. The National Association of Journalists (CNP in Spanish) of Apure-Amazonas criticized the city's actions, which it considered arbitrary.
Armed individuals opened fire against the headquarters of a newspaper in the state of Zulia, in northeast Venezuela, on the night of Sunday, June 3, reported La Nación. This is the third attack in one week against news media outlets in the region.
On Wednesday, June 6, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) condemned the threats and attacks against Venezuelan journalists and news media, reported the newspaper El Universal.
A Venezuelan reporter from the newspaper El Universal filed a complaint with the Venezuelan Public Ministry, on Monday, June 4, after receiving a threat for publishing reports about recent conflicts in the prison La Planta, in Caracas, reported El Impulso.
The headquarters of the Venezuelan newspaper Qué Pasa was attacked with a grenade on May 28. No one was hurt during the attack, however the building suffered damages, reported the news site Clases de Periodismo, on Monday, June 4.
Rights Court, and the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. The letter was sent in anticipation of the 42nd OAS General Assembly, June 3-5 in the city of Cochabamba in Bolivia, where different proposals will be discussed to change the Inter American human rights system, according to the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal. The proposals caused concern among diverse human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch, which said that these changes would weaken the Human Rights Commission, reported the news agency AFP. On May 10, the OAS General Secretary, José Miguel Insulza, said that the human rights def