Americas

New York, August 18, 2005 ­ The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the hand grenade attack on the offices of the Colombian daily El Informador. The newspaper said police believe a motorcycle passenger lobbed a fragmentation grenade which exploded outside the newsroom on Monday evening as three journalists and a designer were finishing Tuesday’s edition.…

JULY 28, 2005 Posted: August 17, 2005 Sugey Estrada, Noroeste THREATENED Estrada, the correspondent for the Mazatlán edition of the daily Noroeste in the town of Escuinapa, in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, was threatened by the local police chief.

AUGUST 15, 2005 Posted August 18, 2005 El Informador ATTACKED Attackers hurled a grenade at the offices of El Informador. The newspaper said police believed a motorcycle passenger lobbed a fragmentation grenade which exploded outside the newsroom where three journalists and a designer were working. The blast damaged the building but caused no injuries.

AUGUST 10, 2005 Posted September 8, 2005 Wladimir de Souza, Diário de S.Paulo ATTACKED Souza, a photojournalist who works for the São Paulo-based daily Diário de S.Paulo, was attacked by a police officer.Souza was covering the detention of an alleged drug dealer by the police’s Narcotics Investigation Department (DENARC), when he was attacked by a…

AUGUST 8, 2005 Posted: August 17, 2005 Lucas Garve, freelance HARASSED Garve, a freelance journalist, was harassed twice by government supporters outside his home in the Havana neighborhood of Mantilla. Garve was sleeping around 10:30 p.m. when government supporters woke him up and warned him not to leave his apartment the next day, according to…

JULY 27, 2005 Posted: August 8, 2005 El Universal LEGAL ACTION The Attorney General’s Office opened a criminal investigation against the Caracas-based daily El Universal after it published an editorial that criticized the prosecutor’s office and the judiciary. The probe was launched under desacato (contempt) provisions, which criminalize expressions deemed offensive to public officials and…

AUGUST 6, 2005 Posted: August 26, 2005 Albert Santiago Du Bouchet Hernández IMPRISONED Du Bouchet Hernández was arrested on August 6, tried three days later, and handed a one-year jail term without the knowledge of his family who found out about his detention only after he smuggled a note out of prison. He was the…

AUGUST 3, 2005 Posted: August 17, 2005 Radio Quebracho Poty ATTACKED Unidentified attackers set on fire the studios of community radio station Radio Quebracho Poty, based in the town of Puerto Casado, on the border between Paraguay and Brazil.

Dear Mr. Rodríguez: The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom around the world, is deeply concerned about the investigation your office has opened against the Caracas-based daily El Universal after it published an editorial that criticized your office and the judiciary.