The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF in French) asked on Nov. 15 for the immediate release of the editor of the 6to Poder, Leocenis García. García has been jailed since Aug. 30, and has been on a hunger strike since Nov. 9.
Reporter Guillermo Colina, a cameraman, and a technician for the Venezuelan opposition television station Globovisión were attacked by supporters of President Hugo Chávez while covering a patient protest outside a military hospital in the capital of Caracas, reported the Press and Society Institute on Nov. 7. The same reporter suffered a similar attack on Oct. 17.
Leocenis García, editor of the Venezuelan newspaper 6to Poder, announced on Nov. 9 that he would go on a hunger strike for an "undetermined time" to reinvigorate the appeal against his detention, reported El Universal. García was arrested Aug. 30 after publishing a cover satirizing several female members of President Hugo Chávez's administration.
A reporting team from TV Globovisión was attacked by a group of employees from the Venezuelan city of Plaza on Wednesday, Oct. 19, as they were covering protests in the city of Guarenas, close to the capital city of Caracas, according to the Press and Society Institute.
The director of the site Código Venezuela, journalist Milagros Socorro, announced that hackers attacked her blog, Twitter and e-mail accounts in retaliation for criticizing President Chavez's communications ministry, reported the website La Patilla.
Andrés Izarra, Venezuelan minister of information and communications, criticized journalists from El Nuevo Herald de Miami for falsely reporting that President Hugo Chávez was rushed to a hospital in the capital, Caracas, reported AFP.
The non-governmental organization Foro Penal Venezolano wrote a letter to the High Commissioner for Human Rights requesting the United Nations organization send an observer to Venezuela to monitor the case of jailed editor Leocenis García.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) On Friday, Sept. 23, singled out Venezuela, Nicaragua and Argentina, condemning the countries for the recent legal and physical harassment journalists are suffering.
President of the Block of Venezuelan Press, an association of Venezuelan newspaper editors, believes covering the 2012 presidential election will be especially difficult for an independent press already under attack.
The Venezuelan Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MTC in Spanish) told the newspaper TalCual that it would not longer have access to MTC representatives.
Human Rights Watch honored a Mexican and Venezuelan journalist for defending freedom of expression, even after suffering persecution and threats.
Journalists critical of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez were among the victims of an online attack by pro-Chávez hackers. Hackers interfered with at least a dozen Twitter and e-mail accounts of oppositionists, reported EFE.