Paraguay

New York, July 18, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges authorities in Paraguay to investigate death threats against a journalist covering drug trafficking in an area where another journalist disappeared more than five months ago.

Luis Alcides Ruiz Díaz of the weekly Hechos received an anonymous text message Saturday warning him about his reporting, the local press reported. It was the third such message since Ruiz wrote about the drug trade in the northeast city of Pedro Juan Caballero on the Brazilian border. He published a list of names of alleged traffickers.

New York, March 30, 2006—Nearly two months after Paraguayan radio reporter Enrique Galeano vanished, the Committee to Protect Journalists today placed the journalist on its missing list and renewed its call for the authorities to thoroughly investigate the journalist’s fate.

Galeano, also known as “El Pirulito,” has been missing since February 4, when he disappeared near Yby Yaú, a small town in the northern Concepción province. Galeano hosts a morning news and music show on Radio Azotey in the city of Horqueta, and he is the editor of the monthly Alo vecino.

New York, March 1, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Paraguayan authorities to fully investigate an attack against newspaper reporter Juan Augusto Roa, whose car was fired on by unidentified gunmen on Monday night near the southern city of Encarnación. The reporter was unharmed.

Roa, a correspondent for the Asunción-based daily ABC Color, told CPJ he was doing research in the city of Mayor Otaño for a story about the environmental effects of Paraguayan paper mills located near the border with Argentina.

Attacks and developments throughout the region

New York, February 15, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists voiced concern today about the fate of Paraguayan radio journalist Enrique Galeano, who has been missing since February 4. CPJ is investigating whether his disappearance is related to his journalistic work.

Galeano, who hosts a morning news and music show on Radio Azotey, disappeared in Yby Yau, a small town in northern Concepción province, Julio Benegas, secretary general of the Paraguayan Journalists Union, told CPJ.

New York, January 6, 2006 ­ The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a decision by the Paraguayan Supreme Court of Justice to uphold the criminal defamation conviction of Aldo Zuccolillo, director of the Paraguayan daily ABC Color.

The Court ordered Zuccolillo on December 28, 2005 to pay a fine of 1.3 billion guaraníes (US$ 200,000), the Asunción-based ABC Color reported. Zuccolillo faces 18 lawsuits over articles his newspaper has published in recent years on official corruption.