Americas

  
A man waves a Guatemalan national flag during a protest in Guatemala City. The country is due to hold presidential and congressional elections in June. (AP/Moises Castillo, File)

Guatemala elections 2019: Journalist safety kit

Guatemala is scheduled to hold presidential and congressional elections on June 16. The Knight Centre for Journalism in the Americas reported increased violence against the press during the country’s 2015 elections. Journalists have told CPJ they are being attacked and harassed, especially online, over their coverage of corruption, or reports on President Jimmy Morales and…

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An injured member of the media is carried away during a rally against the government of President Nicolas Maduro and to commemorate May Day in Caracas, Venezuela, on May 1, 2019. (Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino)

Challenges facing journalists trying to cover 2019 violence in Venezuela

The long-running political crisis in Venezuela escalated on April 30, 2019, after a civilian and military uprising was thwarted by the government of Nicolás Maduro, according to news reports. Opposition leaders Juan Guaidó and Leopoldo Lopez, accompanied by members of the armed forces, congregated on a highway in eastern Caracas and called upon the armed…

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Supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido attend a rally in Caracas on May 1, 2019. (Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins)

Venezuelan authorities restrict internet, block outlets amid unrest

Miami, May 1, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Venezuelan authorities to refrain from restricting access to the internet, social media services, and news outlets in the country during widespread protests and political unrest.

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A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official is seen at the Santa Fe border crossing from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on February 24, 2019. CPJ recently joined a letter to the Department of Homeland Security regarding the targeting of journalists at the U.S. border. (Reuters/Jose Luis Gonzalez)

CPJ joins letter urging Trump administration to address targeting of journalists at border

Washington, D.C., May 1, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined more than 100 human rights and press freedom groups in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials expressing deep concern over recent actions by the department’s law enforcement agencies–Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement–that threaten the…

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A police officer stands guard at the 100% Noticias offices in Managua, Nicaragua, on December 22, 2018. The trial of journalists Lucía Pineda and Miguel Mora was recently delayed without a new date set. (Reuters/Oswaldo Rivas)

Trial of detained Nicaraguan journalists Lucía Pineda and Miguel Mora indefinitely delayed

Miami, April 30, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today renewed its calls for Nicaraguan authorities to immediately released detained journalists Lucía Pineda and Miguel Mora. Their trial, which was scheduled to begin yesterday, was instead postponed without a new date set, according to local news reports.

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Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador speaks at his daily press briefing at the National Palace in Mexico City on April 12, 2019. During a press briefing on April 23, he criticized a local newspaper, whose editor has since received death threats. (AP/Marco Ugarte)

Editor-in-chief of Mexican newspaper Reforma targeted by death threats following criticism from president

Mexico City, April 29, 2019 — Mexican federal authorities must guarantee the safety of Juan Pardinas, the editor-in-chief of Mexico City newspaper Reforma, who has recently faced harassment and death threats online, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A man reads a newspaper at a market in Lima, in September 2018. A Peru court has ordered assets for Ojo Público and two journalists to be frozen. (Reuters/Mariana Bazo)

Peruvian judge orders assets freeze for Ojo Público, 2 journalists in defamation case

Bogotá, Colombia, April 29, 2019– A Peruvian court has ordered assets belonging to the independent news website Ojo Público, its executive director Óscar Castilla, and La República investigative reporter Edmundo Cruz, to be frozen while a criminal defamation complaint against them is heard, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on…

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People wait in line at a government-run grocery store in Havana, Cuba, on April 17, 2019. Cuban police detained and beat journalist Roberto Jesús Quiñones in Guantánamo on April 22. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Cuban police detain and beat journalist Roberto Jesús Quiñones in Guantánamo

Miami, April 24, 2019–Cuban authorities should immediately release journalist Roberto Jesús Quiñones, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Friends and family carry the coffin of Peru's former president, Alan Garcia, who killed himself on April 17, in Lima, Peru, on April 19, 2019. Some government officials have blamed Peruvian investigative journalists for his suicide, and engaged in a harassment campaign. (Reuters/Janine Costa)

In Peru, journalist Gustavo Gorriti, other media blamed for ex-president’s suicide

New York, April 22, 2019 – Peruvian authorities should immediately take action to ensure the safety of journalists at news website IDL-Reporteros, and officials should refrain from making inflammatory statements blaming the outlet and its director, Gustavo Gorriti, for the suicide last week of former President Alan García, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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The Supreme Court, pictured on April 15, is due to hear arguments in a case brought by South Dakota daily, the Argus Leader, that centers around exemptions to Freedom of Information Act requests. (AFP/Eric Baradat)

Supreme Court could limit FOIA, curtail investigative reporting

It’s been over eight years since Jonathan Ellis, an investigative reporter at the Argus Leader, filed what he thought was a routine Freedom of Information Act request. He wanted five years of reimbursement data from the Agriculture Department (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)–a program that helps people with low incomes buy food from grocery…

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