With ten journalists murdered in the line of duty, 1997 was an extremely violent year for the Latin American press. While the systematic persecution of journalists has largely abated with the consolidation of democratic regimes, the mediaís growing independence has exposed journalists to different kinds of danger. Government officials, powerful economic actors, and criminal elements including drug traffickers have responded to efforts to probe their activities by lashing out at the press, often through lawsuits, often through violence.

The changing nature of the threat, coupled with the growing power of journalists in the region, has led CPJ to refocus its mission in Latin America. In 1981, when CPJ was founded, Latin America was the most dangerous place in the world to be a journalist. The military dictators who governed much of the continent were overtly hostile to the press, describing it on occasion as an instrument of international communism. Paramilitary death squads targeted journalists as part of their counterinsurgency strategy.

Despite this fierce repression, journalists throughout Latin America continued to practice their profession, documenting abuses, exposing corruption, and demanding accountability from public officials and elected leaders. In the end, the press played an important role in the collapse of the military juntas.

Today, with the exception of Cuba, the Latin American press is able to report with few restrictions. Throughout the region, journalists pursue stories of official corruption, malfeasance, social injustice, and human rights abuses. In many Latin American countries, such as Argentina, Peru, and Colombia, where the judiciary and legislative branches of government lack independence, the press has emerged as the institution that inspires the greatest degree of public confidence, according to opinion polls. The growing power of the media has made some Latin American journalists uncomfortable because, they argue, the press is becoming a political actor and thereby compromising its legitimate function of mediating between competing political forces.

In Argentina, the mediaís strained relationship with President Carlos Saúl Menem turned overtly antagonistic after photojournalist José Luis Cabezas was murdered in January. The brutal murder, and the lack of progress in the investigation, galvanized public support for the media. A series of protest marches throughout the year demanded the arrest of those responsible for the crime as well as greater respect for freedom of the press.

Three Mexican journalists were assassinated in 1997, as a newly aggressive press intersected with deteriorating social conditions. For the majority of Mexican journalists, however, the threat of prosecution is a more immediate concern than the possibility of violent attack. Dozens of journalists have been prosecuted in recent years under Mexicoís 1917 libel law, which defined ëdefamationí as a criminal offense punishable by up to 11 months in prison. In Colombia, where four journalists were murdered, the situation is even more critical. The government of Ernesto Samper, badly weakened by a series of political scandals, has not only failed to respond to the growing violence against journalists, but has tried to control the media by granting television and radio licenses to the political cronies of the president.

While no journalists were assassinated for their work in Peru, four remain in jail, convicted under that countryís draconian anti-terrorism laws. Journalists in Peru allege that the countryís shadowy National Intelligence Service (SIN) has launched a campaign against the press that combines legal action, terror, and disinformation. The intention, they allege, is to silence journalists who might produce stories that could damage President Alberto Fujimoriís expected campaign for a third term as president.

Rather than intimidating the press, the violence has fueled the formation of journalistsí self-defense organizations throughout the region. CPJ has been working closely with a number of them, including the Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS) in Peru and Periodistas in Argentina. In November, CPJ hosted a workshop with Mexican journalists in Mexico City to discuss freedom of the press and self-defense strategies in the face of the escalating incidence of attacks. (See "Breaking Away: Mexico's Press Challenges the Status Quo", p. 213.)

The growing network of journalistsí organizations in Latin America is playing a vital role in strengthening press freedom. During the 1980s, CPJ was often the sole source of information about attacks on the press in Latin America because journalists in the region, shackled by repressive regimes, were not in a position to defend themselves effectively. Today, CPJ increasingly relies on local press organizations for information and works with them to lobby their heads of state for press freedom reforms, or to push for justice when journalists are under attack.

In just the last decade, a remarkable region-wide integration has taken place; trade, finance, and immigration have linked North and South America more directly than ever before. The positive impact of this regional integration on efforts to secure press freedom throughout Latin America is manifest. For example, there are now four Spanish-language news networks broadcasting out of the United States into Latin America. Meanwhile, the influx of immigrants into the United States--from places like Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru--has provided new impetus for the U.S. media to cover events in places that once seemed remote and of marginal interest. And increased trade has spurred Latin American governments to seek to avoid the negative coverage that flows from press freedom abuses, since they recognize the relationship between their public perception abroad and the level of foreign investment.

The irony is that as Latin American society grows more open, attacks are increasing on journalists pushing the limits of press freedom. Journalists have found, however, that the best defense is to use the power of the press to bring the incidents to the attention of the public. Local press freedom organizations--as well as international groups such as CPJ--are impressing upon Latin American governments that failing to protect this basic freedom carries serious political and social consequences.

In the short term, two trends are clear. The Latin American press will continue to grow more independent, aggressive, and professional. And Latin America will remain a very dangerous place to be a journalist.