Colombian journalists in Arauca pressured from all sides
Although a long-running army offensive has improved security in much of Colombia, the oil-rich eastern province of Arauca remains a hot zone–for both combatants and journalists. This week, for example, the National Liberation Army (ELN), the smaller of the country’s two guerrilla groups, called a transportation strike, effectively shutting down traffic and commerce throughout the…
In response, Ecuadoran secretary misses the point
Back in April, before leaving on a research trip to Ecuador, I contacted Communications Secretary Fernando Alvarado by phone and email in hopes of meeting with him to discuss press freedom concerns that have emerged under President Rafael Correa. The secretary was among the high-ranking administration officials who did not respond to CPJ’s requests for…
Radio journalist shot to death in Brazil
New York, September 12, 2011–Brazilian authorities must thoroughly investigate the September 1 murder of a Brazilian radio journalist who was known for his criticism of local authorities and had allegedly been threatened with death by a local mayor, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Menem misuses privacy claim, CPJ says in IACHR brief
New York, September 12, 2011–A lawsuit alleging invasion of privacy brought by Argentina’s former president, Carlos Saúl Menem, against two journalists with the local newsweekly Noticias violates Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a legal brief filed Friday before the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human…
Cuba pulls veteran correspondent’s credentials
New York, September 7, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Cuban government’s decision to not renew press credentials held by a 20-year veteran correspondent for the Spanish daily El País and radio network Cadena SER. Mauricio Vicent, whose access to official events had been restricted by the government for the past year, is now…
In Ecuador, CPJ highlights press freedom decline
The turning point in President Rafael Correa’s aggressive campaign against the private media, Ecuadoran journalists say, came in July with the criminal defamation convictions of four managers of the Guayaquil-based daily El Universo. Bad went to worse when the paper’s former opinion editor and three of its executives were sentenced to jail and fined, along…
Confrontation, repression in Correa’s Ecuador
Rafael Correa’s administration has led Ecuador into a new era of widespread repression by pre-empting private news broadcasts, enacting restrictive legal measures, smearing critics, and filing debilitating defamation lawsuits. A CPJ special report by Carlos Lauría