Journalist Peter Godwin said he recently met with the governor of Veracruz Javier Duarte to discuss violence against journalists in the Mexican state, even though the politician denied the meeting took place and other alleged participants also said they weren’t there, the Mexican weekly Proceso reported.
On the eve of municipal elections in Brazil, journalists suffered assaults in several cities across the country. The assaults shared a common thread of alleged illegal behavior by candidates and their supporters.
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) executive director Joel Simon testified at a briefing on press freedom in Latin America that violence and legal harassment are the biggest obstacles journalists face in the region, according to CPJ’s website.
A journalist from Ecuador was threatened by two men who burst into his newsroom on Sept. 23, reported the Ecuadorian NGO Fundamedios. Reporter Alejandro Escudero works for the weekly Independiente in the city of Nueva Loja, a northeastern province in Sucumbíos, the organization said.
A Colombian journalist claimed that criminal gangs he reported on were planning to kill him, reported the newspaper El Meridiano de Sucre.
The Attorney General of Colombia announced on Sept. 26 that it would take preventative measures to protect the fundamental rights of 10 threatened journalists who interviewed an ex-paramilitary leader, reported Caracol Radio.
At least 15 journalists have fled Mexico seeking asylum abroad, according to an interview with Reporters Without Borders (RSF in French) Mexico representative Balbina Flores on Radio Fórmula.
A Brazilian journalist for Record News was violently attacked with an iron rod, leaving him with a head injury, two broken ribs and bruises on his body, while covering a rally for a mayoral candidate in Estreito, Maranhão.
The newspaper El Comercio reported a new case of threats against a journalist in Ecuador on Tuesday, Sept. 25. Reporter and director of the radio magazine Democracia, Gonzalo Rosero, claimed he has been receiving threats for six months.
The United States will collaborate with the Honduran government to defend human rights in the face of rising attacks on journalists and press freedom violations, reported Fox News Latino.
After conducting and publishing an interview with an ex-paramilitary leader, 10 Colombian journalists were threatened in Santa Marta, Magdalena, reported the news agency EFE.
A report from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) warned that Mexico's press is rapidly losing its freedom with entire regions experiencing an "information blackout".