A roller-coaster year for the Panamanian press began with a flurry of prosecutions under the country’s infamous “gag laws.” After the outgoing government tried to strengthen the gag laws under the pretense of reforming them, the year ended with the new government repealing some of the gag laws’ most onerous provisions. In the 20 years…
The Paraguayan press was deeply divided by a constitutional conflict between Congress and the president that polarized the entire country and threatened to undermine Paraguay’s fragile democracy. The political crisis began in 1998, when Gen. Lino Oviedo, who led an unsuccessful 1996 coup against then-president Juan Carlos Wasmosy, emerged as the leading presidential candidate to…
President Alberto K. Fujimori continued his efforts to suppress critical reporting in a year that ended with the long-anticipated announcement that he would seek a third five-year term, a move widely considered unconstitutional. The Fujimori government’s systematic campaign to discredit Peru’s independent press earned him a place on CPJ’s list of the top 10 enemies…
Since its founding in 1981, CPJ has, as a matter of strategy and policy, concentrated on press freedom violations and attacks on journalists outside the United States. CPJ aims to devote its efforts to those countries where journalists are most in need of international support and protection. As a result, we do not systematically monitor…
Journalists reported no serious incidents preventing them from covering the news, but the inequitable distribution of state advertising threatened to dampen a vigorous press. Mocaltate Agencies–the largest advertisers in Uruguay–have been accused by journalists of depriving critical media outlets of government advertising while bestowing favors on sympathetic publications. Journalists report that while the practice has…
President Hugo Chávez Frías, who took office in February in a landslide victory, excoriated the press for criticizing his plan to rewrite Venezuela’s constitution. Voters ratified the constitution in December by an overwhelming margin; journalists worry that an amendment guaranteeing the public’s “right to timely, truthful, and impartial information” could be used as justification to…
New York, March 17, 2000 — CPJ is deeply concerned by the legal action currently being brought against the Lima-based newspaper, El Comercio, which threatens to transfer ownership of the paper to its minority shareholders. El Comercio is charged with the misuse of government-provided funds. The paper is also being sued by its former general…
New York, March 14, 2000 — Francisco “Pacho” Santos Calderón, editor of Colombia’s largest daily newspaper, El Tiempo, fled the country on March 11 after an apparent attempt was made on his life. According to one of Santos’ colleagues, the assassins were hired by members of the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia’s…
Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in PANAMA New York, August 3, 2000 — Carlos Singares, editor of the Panama City-based daily El Siglo, is currently serving an eight-day prison sentence for “disrespect” of the attorney general. Yesterday, an appeals court confirmed a 20-month prison sentence against him for having allegedly defamed…
Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in PANAMA New York, August 3, 2000 — Eleven months after pledging to eliminate Panama’s notorious “gag laws,” President Mireya Moscoso has signed a bill that sharply restricts public access to information. The new law broadens official definitions of privacy and confidentiality and applies harsh sanctions…