Americas

  
Leopoldo Batz (left), a journalist from Totonicapán, interviewing a citizen. Screen grab: Eddy Zeta

CPJ, partners publish report on threats to community journalism in Guatemala

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined seven other press freedom and human rights organizations—including ARTICLE 19 Mexico and Central America, Reporters Without Borders, and Protection International—in releasing a report documenting systemic threats to community journalism in Guatemala. The report is based on a fact-finding mission carried out between October 2024 and January 2025, with investigators…

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CPJ Regional Director José Zamora speaks at a Georgia news conference on July 22, with Mario Guevara's lawyer, Giovanni Diaz, to his right, and the journalist's daughter, Katherine Guevara on the far right.

CPJ, partners call on US to free imprisoned journalist Mario Guevara

Atlanta, July 22, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists and partners on Tuesday called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release Atlanta-based journalist Mario Guevara, who has been in jail since his June 14, 2025, arrest, despite the dropping of all charges against him and an immigration judge ordering his release on bail.  An Emmy-winning, Spanish-language journalist, Guevara was arrested on First Amendment-related…

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A Mexican court issued a gag order on reporter-editor Jorge Luis González Valdez (shown) and the newspaper Tribuna in July 2025. (Screenshot: Milenio/YouTube)

Gag order imposed on retired Mexican journalist, newspaper over critical reports on governor

Mexico City, July 22, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a gag order placed on reporter-editor Jorge Luis González Valdez and the newspaper Tribuna by a court in the southeastern Mexican state of Campeche. CPJ calls on Gov. Layda Sansores to immediately cease any judicial harassment of the journalist and the publication over…

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Mexican investigative crime reporters receive death threats

Mexico City, July 10, 2025—Mexican authorities must immediately and credibly investigate death threats against two crime reporters, Óscar Balderas and Luis Chaparro, and take all appropriate steps to guarantee their safety and that of other reporters covering organized crime, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.  Balderas, a well-known investigative journalist, reported on July 4 on X that he…

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Peruvian journalist Gastón Medina a victim of violence he denounced

Peruvian journalist Gastón Medina Sotomayor did not hold back in his last TV news broadcast before he was shot dead this year. Addressing the viewers of Cadena Sur, his TV and radio station in the south-central city of Ica, Medina called local authorities “scoundrels” for buying defective garbage trucks. He criticized cost overruns for a…

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Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara (Screenshot: Fox 5 Atlanta/YouTube)

ICE defies court, says journalist Mario Guevara ‘not releasable’

Washington, D.C., July 7, 2025— The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities to respect an immigration court ruling and release on bail journalist Mario Guevara, a native of El Salvador who has been legally in the U.S. for the past 20 years. On Monday, ICE denied Guevara’s…

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Timeline: Reporter Mario Guevara’s arrest and ICE detention

Spanish-language reporter Mario Guevara, who has covered immigrant issues in the Atlanta metro area for the past 20 years, was detained by local law enforcement while livestreaming a local “No Kings” protest in mid-June. He was charged with three misdemeanors and then denied bond when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)  issued a detainer against him,…

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Colombian journalist, wife wounded in targeted shooting

Bogotá, July 7, 2025—Colombian authorities must thoroughly investigate the shooting of journalist Gustavo Chicangana and his wife, Ana Milena Torres, to determine whether the reporter was targeted for his work, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Saturday, July 5, Chicangana, news director of radio station Guaviare Estéreo, and Torres…

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CPJ outraged at ICE refusal of judge’s order to release journalist Mario Guevara

Atlanta, July 2, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities not to comply with a federal immigration judge order that granted bail to Atlanta-based Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara, who was originally arrested on First Amendment-related charges. Those charges were dropped on June 25. CPJ calls for Guevara’s immediate…

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Shari Redstone, president of National Amusements and Vice Chairman, CBS and Viacom speaks at the WSJTECH live conference in Laguna Beach, California, U.S. October 21, 2019. REUTERS/ Mike Blake

Paramount reaches $16M settlement with Trump over ‘60 Minutes’ interview

Atlanta, July 2, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Paramount Global’s $16 million settlement with U.S. President Donald Trump reached on Tuesday, with deep concern that such a concession by a major news network will set a harmful precedent of media self-censorship.   “This is a major blow for press freedom in the United States: A…

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