Brazil A proposed bill to regulate the press, as well as the attempted expulsion of a New York Times correspondent, highlighted the growing tension between the Brazilian media and the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula. In August, the government submitted a controversial bill to Congress that would have regulated…
Chile A protracted sex scandal that roiled Chile during 2004 highlighted the country’s restrictive legal framework for journalists, as well as public officials’ lack of tolerance for criticism in the media. In September 2003, businessman Claudio Spiniak was arrested and accused of leading a prostitution and pornography ring. Politicians, prominent businessmen, and a Roman Catholic…
Colombia For the first time in more than a decade, CPJ documented no case in 2004 in which a journalist was killed for his or her work. While violence against Colombian journalists may have receded—31 were murdered for their work during the last decade, according to CPJ research—it does not reflect an improvement in conditions…
Costa Rica The nine-year legal battle of Mauricio Herrera Ulloa, a reporter with the San José–based daily La Nación (The Nation), ended on August 3, when the Inter-American Court of Human Rights announced a ruling overturning his 1999 conviction on criminal defamation charges. The Costa Rica–based court also ruled that the sentence harmed the reporter’s…
Cuba Six Cuban journalists jailed in a crackdown that began in March 2003 were released in 2004, but with 23 members of the media still behind bars, this Caribbean nation remains one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, second only to China. During 2004, Cuban authorities continued their systematic harassment of journalists and their…
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic suffered an acute economic and social crisis in 2004, with violent crimes occurring almost daily. Criminal gangs escalated attacks against journalists who denounced their activities. On September 14, two gunmen on a motorcycle attacked two journalists who had reported on a criminal gang in the town of Azua, 75 miles…
Ecuador Lucio Gutiérrez, who was elected president in 2002 on an anticorruption platform, repeatedly lashed out at the press in 2004 over allegations of nepotism and campaign finance irregularities. The president and government officials regularly accused the media of “spreading half-truths.” Given the government’s hostility, journalists fear that a new access to information law may…
El Salvador During the March 2004 presidential elections, partisan divisions in the Salvadoran press intensified, while journalists continued to face serious restrictions on access to government information. In a positive development, on October 28 the National Assembly approved reforms of the Salvadoran Penal Code that, among other things, protect journalists from being forced to reveal…
Guatemala In December 2004, the U.N. Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) ceased monitoring the implementation of the 1996 peace accords that ended decades of civil conflict. The end of the MINUGUA mission was a political milestone for Guatemala, yet the peace accords have not been fully implemented, and human rights abuses remain widespread.
Haiti Supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide attacked opposition journalists in the months prior to the uprising that forced Aristide from power in February. After the president fled the country, rebel groups targeted pro-Aristide journalists, particularly in Haiti’s rural northern and central regions. Violence against journalists was especially intense in January and February, when the…