In meeting with CPJ, Colombian president pledges support for provincial journalists
Bogotá, Colombia, March 15, 2006–Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Vélez today expressed support for the work of provincial journalists who report under threat of violence and said that any official who impedes their work “is committing a crime against democracy.” Uribe issued the statement at the urging of a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists,…
Photographer gunned down outside his home
New York, March 10, 2006—Mexican photographer Jaime Arturo Olvera Bravo was shot to death Thursday outside his home in La Piedad in the central state of Michoacán. The special prosecutor for crimes against journalists has opened a preliminary inquiry and will work with state authorities to establish if the murder was related to Olvera’s work.…
Bomb attack and threats against newspaper
New York, March 10, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a bomb attack on a Venezuelan newspaper and a threat against its editor. Unidentified assailants threw three homemade explosives on Wednesday at the offices of the daily La Región in Los Teques, southwest of Caracas. No one was injured in the attack, which caused minor…
Journalist abducted
New York, March 9, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the abduction and attempted murder of a Dominican crime reporter early Wednesday morning. Unidentified assailants seized Roberto Sandoval outside his Santo Domingo home and threatened to kill him, according to news reports and a CPJ source. Sandoval escaped by jumping from a moving vehicle as…
Journalist arrested at TV station
New York, March 6, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the arrest today on fraud charges of a Venezuelan journalist known for his criticism of state authorities. Gustavo Azócar Alcalá was arrested in the western state of Táchira minutes after finishing a daily show he hosts on the San Cristóbal-based TV station Televisora…
Journalist convicted on defamation charges
New York, March 3, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Tuesday’s criminal defamation conviction of Mexican journalist Isabel Arvide for a 2001 article alleging links between state officials and organized crime. Judge Octavio Rodríguez Gaytán, of the Second Penal Court in the state of Chihuahua, sentenced Arvide to one year in prison and ordered her…
Newspaper reporter flees after death threat
New York, March 2, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by death threats against a reporter for the Colombian newspaper Vanguardia Liberal which says it is also the target of government surveillance. Jenny Manrique said she fled the city of Bucaramanga, in the western province of Santander, in January after receiving death threats for…
Journalist escaped unharmed after his car was shot
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…
Four Miami reporters harassed
FEBRUARY 7, 2006 Mario Vallejo, Univisión Channel 23 ATTACKED, HARASSED Osvaldo Duarte, Univisión Channel Alberto Tavares, Telemundo Channel 51 Lázaro Abreu, Telemundo Channel 51 HARASSED A guard at an immigration jail in Nassau attacked Vallejo, and police detained Abreu, Duarte, and Tavares as the four Miami-based journalists were covering the story of seven Cubans rescued…