For the second consecutive year, Mexico and Brazil are the only Latin American countries that are part of the Global Impunity Index by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which was published on Oct. 27.
Journalists covering mass protests against the Venezuelan government of President Nicólas Maduro fought to carry out their work despite restrictions in the form of government detentions, physical attacks and harassment during the Oct. 26 “Toma de Venezuela” (Taking of Venezuela).
At least six journalists were victims of different attacks after a pro-government group violently entered the Venezuelan National Assembly (AN) on Oct. 23, according to freedom of expression organization Espacio Público.
The situation of press freedom on the American continent continues to face threats ranging from violence against journalists to the use of legal mechanisms, the adoption of restrictive laws and cyber attacks.
Javier Duarte de Ochoa, governor of Veracruz, Mexico who has been the subject of widespread criticism for the high levels of violence against journalists in his state, has resigned from his position as he faces unrelated corruption charges.
Journalist Cándido Figueredo lives with his wife, and seven guards armed with machine guns, in what he likes to call “my prison.” With a mixture of irony and regret, Figueredo describes his house, which also serves as a branch of Paraguay’s largest newspaper ABC Color. For more than 20 years, Figueredo has lived with a 24-hour security escort, the only way to continue working as journalist in the dangerous city of Pedro Juan Caballero, on Paraguay’s border with Brazil.
Jineth Bedoya Lima is likely one of the most award-winning Colombian journalists. Both her 20-year journalistic career and her activism to end violence against women, to which she has dedicated herself in recent years, have been recognized by national and international organizations.
A Colombian judge ordered the arrest of the Central Command (Coce) of the guerrilla group known as the National Liberation Army (ELN for its acronym in Spanish) for the kidnappings of six journalists and a driver this past May, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
Brazilian journalist Evaldo de Oliveira, 49, was shot while distributing local newspapers on the evening of Sept. 26 in Franco da Rocha, a city in São Paulo state.
Aurelio Cabrera Campos, director of weekly El Gráfico in the state of Puebla, was shot on the night of Sept. 14 while driving on the highway in Huauchinango.