Millionaire mining executive Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was sworn in as president on August 6 and immediately announced emergency actions aimed at lifting South America’s poorest nation out of an economic slump. But despite a four-year recession and widespread protests during 2002, the Bolivian press was able to cover the news with no major obstacles.
Workers Party (PT) candidate and former labor leader Luiz Inácio da Silva, known as Lula, won presidential elections in October, defeating the ruling coalition’s candidate by a wide margin and becoming Brazil’s first president not to come from the country’s political and economic elite. In previous elections, the country’s leading newspapers and television networks opposed…
The administration of President Ricardo Lagos continued its efforts, begun in 2001, to repeal Chile’s harsh criminal statutes for press offenses. In September, the government introduced a bill to amend several articles of the Penal Code and the Code of Military Justice that impose criminal penalties for “insulting the honor or dignity” of government authorities,…
Colombia’s civil conflict once again took a brutal toll on the country’s press, with journalists threatened, attacked, kidnapped, and murdered. At least three journalists were killed for their work in 2002, and CPJ continues to investigate the slayings of five others whose deaths may have been related to their reporting. At year’s end, Colombia’s overburdened…
Information about the 2001 murder of journalist Parmenio Medina Pérez remains scarce. Although his killing heightened efforts to reform Costa Rica’s outdated media laws, the legislative commission that was created to study such laws made no advances during 2002, while Costa Rican journalists continued to suffer from court interference.
Throughout 2002, scores of journalists in Cuba were harassed, detained, threatened with prosecution or jail, or had their freedom of movement restricted. Some had their reporting materials confiscated or their phone communications disrupted. Often, the government prevented journalists from covering opposition activities, turning reporters back or even forcing them to stay at their homes under…
The Dominican Republic’s media did not face significant restrictions in 2002 under President Hipólito Mejía. However, a bill designed to bring the country’s press laws up to international standards and improve access to information stalled again in the Senate.
President Gustavo Noboa’s administration, which has been in power since January 2000, was generally tolerant of criticism in 2002 and respected the work of the press, except for some incidents in which journalists were temporarily denied full access to the Palace of Government.