Another journalist was killed in Veracruz, México; his body was found inside of plastic bags in the early morning of Thursday, June 14, in the city of Xalapa, reported the Associated Process and the weekly Proceso. The search started the night before after the journalist was kidnapped while leaving his office, according to Reuters. It is believed that the journalist was probably a victim of organized crime, reported the newspaper El Economista.
Mexican state legislators approved a constitutional reform that will allow federal authorities to investigate crimes against journalists, reported the newspaper La Jornada on Thursday, June 7. In March, the Senate approved a proposal to make crimes against journalists federal jurisdiction, which before were dealt with locally. But, because this was a constitutional reform, the new measure also required the approval of the majority of the 31 Mexican state legislators.
On Wednesday, June 6, the National Association of Journalists of Peru (ANP in Spanish) reported the temporary kidnapping and attacks that a Peruvian journalist suffered on May 27 by a large group of protesters against the Swiss mining company Xstrata in the province of Espinar, in Cuzco, reported the news agency EFE.
A Guatemalan TV reporter was injured while covering the eviction of university student protesters, reported the news agency AFP.
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.
On Tuesday, June 5, Argentine journalists were attacked by a gang that identifies itself as supporters of Governor Jesús Cariglino while they were trying to cover an alleged malpractice case in the city hospital of Pablo Nogués in Malvinas Argentinas of the province of Buenos Aires, reported the newspaper La Voz.
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.
A Honduran court ordered the arrest of three more suspects in the kidnapping and killing of radio journalist Alfredo Villatoro, reported the newspaper El Heraldo. The suspects arrested are Marvin Alonso Gómez, Osmán Fernando Osorio Arguijo, and Edgar Francisco Osorio Arguijo, who are accused of conspiracy and illegal arms possession, according to La Tribuna. Their arrests make a total of eight suspects detained for the crime against the journalist, who was the news director for HRN, one of the most influential radio stations in Honduras, said the newspaper La Prensa.
The mayor of the Brazilian city Barra dos Bugres (in Mato Grosso) grabbed a reporter by the neck when she was trying to interview him for the TV channel Independência, which is affiliated with the station Record, on Thursday, May 24, reported the newspaper O Dia. The attack happened during a City Council event that took place in a stadium of that city.
A day after the organization Amnesty International complained in its annual report about freedom of press restrictions in Venezuela, the U.S. government said that the Hugo Chavez administration has been persecuting the Venezuelan press, in a Human Rights report published on Thursday, May 24, reported the portal Terra.
Miguel Ángel López Solana, son of the Mexican columnist brutally killed in the state of Veracruz along with his family in June 2011, described to participants of the 10th annual Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas the ordeals he faced to flee Mexico because of fear that his life was in jeopardy.