Committee to Protect Journalists - Paraguay

Radio journalist gunned down in southeastern Paraguay

2007-08-23T16:00:00Z

New York, August 23, 2007—Radio reporter Tito Alberto Palma was shot to death Wednesday night at a friend’s house in Paraguay’s southeastern city of Mayor Otaño. The Committee to Protect Journalists called today on Paraguayan authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and bring all those responsible to justice.

Palma, a reporter for the local radio station Mayor Otaño and correspondent for the Asunción-based Radio Chaco Boreal, was having dinner at a friend’s home when two armed individuals in camouflage broke in at 10:40 p.m., according to press reports and CPJ interviews. Without saying a word, the two assailants began to fire their weapons, the owner of the house, Aparicio Martínez, told local reporters. Palma was shot in the head, neck, arms, and legs, Vicente Paéz, secretary-general of the Paraguayan Journalists Union, told CPJ. Palma’s friend, Wilma Martínez, was shot in the leg and was in stable condition today, according to local press reports.

Missing radio journalist found 17 months after vanishing

2007-07-16T16:00:00Z

New York, July 16, 2007—A Paraguayan radio reporter resurfaced last week in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, almost a year and a half after he went missing in northern Paraguay. The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed the news that Enrique Galeano was found alive, and it called on Paraguayan and Brazilian authorities to fully investigate the case.

Two Paraguayan journalists discovered Galeano’s whereabouts during their own investigation of the case, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. Galeano told them he had been seized from his home, taken to Brazil, and told to keep silent or his family would be killed. Galeano, who is now seeking asylum in Uruguay, could not be reached by CPJ for comment today; intermediaries said his contact information was not immediately available.

Paraguayan journalist threatened after corruption, drug trafficking reports

2007-05-03T16:00:00Z

New York, May 3, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the safety of Paraguayan journalist Oscar Bogado Silva, who has received repeated death threats after reporting on local corruption and drug trafficking.

Bogado, correspondent for the Asunción-based daily Última Hora, told CPJ that unidentified individuals broke into his home in the southern city of Encarnación on April 24. No one was in the house at the time and the assailants did not take anything, but they left every door in the house open, Bogado said. A day later, the journalist received a call at his home phone from an unidentified individual, who warned Bogado that he was being watched.

Paraguayan reporter missing for over a year; CPJ seeks urgent investigation

2007-02-08T17:00:00Z

February 8, 2007

Nicanor Duarte Frutos
President of the Republic of Paraguay
Palacio de López
Calle Paraguayo Independiente
Asunción
Paraguay

Via facsimile: +595 21 414-0204

President Duarte Frutos:

The Committee to Protect Journalists would like to reiterate its concern about the fate of Enrique Galeano, Paraguayan host of a morning news and music program on the Horqueta-based Radio Azotey, who has been missing for over a year. We urge you to uphold your pledge to thoroughly investigate Galeano's case.

Attacks on the Press 2006: Brazil

2007-02-05T16:41:00Z

Versão em português

Although freedom of expression is enshrined in Brazil's 1988 constitution, journalists' ability to cover the news was impeded by judges whose legal interpretations effectively restricted the press. During the run-up to the October 1 general election, electoral courts banned media outlets from covering corruption allegations against political candidates.

Attacks on the Press 2006: Paraguay

2007-02-05T16:17:00Z

PARAGUAY

The death of former dictator Alfredo Stroessner in August triggered a wave of stories about the widespread human rights and press freedom abuses woven into the fabric of Paraguayan history. As today’s journalists reflected on the institutionalized attacks of the past, they confronted different, yet grave dangers of their own. Reporters in isolated regions were at risk in covering drug trafficking and crime, and their colleagues in the capital, Asunción, faced legal harassment when they criticized officials and exposed corruption.

Death threats against journalist after drug trafficking report

2006-07-18T16:00:00Z

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.

Paraguayan reporter placed on CPJ missing list

2006-03-30T17:00:00Z

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.

Journalist escaped unharmed after his car was shot

2006-03-01T17:00:00Z

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 on the Press 2005: Americas Snapshots

2006-02-16T16:46:30Z

Attacks and developments throughout the region

Radio reporter missing in Paraguay

2006-02-15T17:00:00Z

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.

Harassed newspaper director loses criminal defamation appeal

2006-01-06T17:00:00Z

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.

PARAGUAY

2005-08-03T16:00:00Z

AUGUST 3, 2005
Posted: August 17, 2005

Radio Quebracho Poty
ATTACKED

Unidentified attackers set on fire the studios of community radio station Radio Quebracho Poty, based in the town of Puerto Casado, on the border between Paraguay and Brazil.

Attacks on the Press 2004: Paraguay

2005-03-14T16:17:00Z

Paraguay

In a major advance for press freedom in the Americas, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found in September that a 1994 criminal defamation conviction in Paraguay violated international law. The court ruled that the criminal proceedings themselves violated the American Convention on Human Rights because they were an "excessive limitation in a democratic society."

Inter-American Court condemns criminal defamation conviction

2004-09-28T16:00:00Z

New York, September 28, 2004--In a decision with broad implications for press freedom in Latin America, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled that a criminal defamation conviction in Paraguay violated international law. The court, in a decision handed down this month, found that the criminal proceedings themselves violated the American Convention on Human Rights because they were an "excessive limitation in a democratic society."