Canada | Chile | Dominican Republic | El Salvador | Haiti | Nicaragua | Panama | Peru CANADA • A Canadian court ordered news organizations not to report on the details of the bail hearings of 17 suspects accused of terrorism in March. The court acted under a provision in the Canadian Criminal Code that…
The Nicaraguan attorney general’s office has dropped a criminal investigation into a nonprofit journalism organization headed by the prominent editor Carlos Fernando Chamorro Barrios after finding no evidence of wrongdoing. A remarkable number of media groups and individuals, including CPJ, spoke out against the investigation as politically motivated.
Dear Mr. President: The Committee to Protect Journalists believes the criminal investigation of prominent journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro Barrios is politically motivated and intended to restrict critical news coverage in Nicaragua. The case undermines your government’s oft-stated commitment to press freedom.
In response to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s decision to investigate prominent journalist Carlos Chamorro Barrios for alleged money laundering through the Center for Media Investigation, of which Chamorro is a board member, we issued the following statement: “We are concerned that the investigation into Carlos Chamorro Barrios, a harsh critic of Ortega’s administration, could be…
UPDATE MARCH 5, 2008 Posted March 24, 2008 Original Case: February 10, 2004 Carlos José Guadamuz, Canal 23 KILLED William Hurtado García, who confessed to the 2004 murder of Canal 23 television host Guadamuz, was conditionally released from prison, the Nicaraguan press reported on March 5. Hurtado had been sentenced to a 21-year prison sentence…
UPDATE MARCH 5, 2008 Posted March 24, 2008 Original Case: February 10, 2004 Carlos José Guadamuz, Canal 23 KILLED William Hurtado García, who confessed to the 2004 murder of Canal 23 television host Guadamuz, was conditionally released from prison, the Nicaraguan press reported on March 5. Hurtado had been sentenced to a 21-year prison sentence…
December 19, 2007 Posted January 10, 2008 Jorge Loáisiga, La Prensa ATTACKED Loáisiga, a reporter for the Managua-based daily La Prensa, was beaten and handcuffed by members of President Daniel Ortega’s security personnel while covering an official event in the Nicaraguan capital, according to local press reports.
FEBRUARY 14, 2007 Posted February 21, 2007 William Aragón, La Prensa THREATENED Aragón, a correspondent in the northern Madriz province for the Managua-based daily La Prensa, received death threats from local government officials after reporting on local government corruption, the journalist told CPJ.
Leftists Lean on the Latin American MediaBy Carlos Lauría Latin America’s new leftist leaders may try to portray themselves as good news for the press, using the rhetoric of liberal democracy. But political and media analysts say these recently installed left-wing administrations are deeply rooted in the region’s longstanding culture of authoritarianism.