Americas

2019

  
Verónica Chávez, Miguel Mora, and Lucia Pineda, after Mora and Pineda's release from prison June 11, in Managua, Nicaragua. (CPJ)

Locked in ‘small graves’: Nicaraguan journalists Mora and Pineda describe their ordeal

Miguel Mora and Lucía Pineda were arrested on December 21, 2018, in the Managua newsroom of 100% Noticias and spent 172 days in prison facing charges of “inciting violence and hate” and “promoting terrorism.” The two journalists spoke to CPJ after their June 11 release. They will receive CPJ’s 2019 International Press Freedom Award in…

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Patricia Espinosa, the sister of Rubén Espinosa, a photographer murdered in 2015, and Alejandro Encinas, undersecretary for human rights, population, and migration, speak at CPJ's press freedom summit. (Ian Garciafigueroa)

Press freedom summit urges Mexico to reform journalist protections

On June 18, more than 400 people converged in Mexico City for CPJ’s Mexico Press Freedom Summit. Energized by a sense that the country is at a point of profound political change under the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the conference delved into the threats for Mexican journalists.

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Police watch supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange protesting in London on June 14, 2019 before a scheduled court date in his fight against extradition to the United States, where he faces prosecution for conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, as well as the Espionage Act. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Tech journalists troubled by Assange computer intrusion charge

The Trump administration’s decision to charge Julian Assange with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act has generated significant controversy. One legal expert described it as “crossing a “constitutional Rubicon.” CPJ warned that the indictment could be the opening salvo in a broader attack on First Amendment journalistic protections. The 18th charge against Assange–of violating…

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Álvaro Uribe, center, poses for pictures with supporters at his home in Rionegro, Colombia, in June 2018. Colombia's former president filed a civil defamation suit in the U.S. against journalist Daniel Coronell. (AFP/Joaquin Sarmiento)

Uribe lawsuit part of ‘systematic campaign to silence me,’ Colombian reporter Coronell says

A civil defamation lawsuit filed in a U.S. court by former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez against journalist Daniel Coronell is the latest broadside in a long and bitter dispute pitting one of Colombia’s most powerful politicians against an investigative reporter.

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Members of the press and the Bolivarian National Guard, pictured outside the Federal Legislative Palace, in Caracas, on May 15, 2019. Local and international journalists say there are several challenges to covering the Venezuela crisis. (AFP/Ronaldo Schemidt)

Caracas full of uncertainty for journalists covering Venezuela crisis

A year after disputed national elections in Venezuela, and with access to information growing ever-scarcer, the country remains in a political and economic crisis. Conditions for the press have deteriorated further since January, when Juan Guaidó, the head of the opposition-led national assembly, declared himself interim president.

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A vendor sells newspapers showing the results of Mexico's presidential elections, in Mexico City, in July 2018. Mexico's new government has said it will address the opaque practice of government advertising in media. (AFP/Ulises Ruiz)

Mexico’s press question president’s commitment to press advertising reform

When Andrés Manuel López Obrador won Mexico’s presidential elections last year with a promise to drastically cut the millions of dollars the government spends on press advertising each year, it appeared to signal the end to an opaque system that has been criticized as a way for governments to encourage favorable coverage.

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President Andrés Manuel López Obrador arrives for his daily press briefing at the National Palace in Mexico City, on April 12. Journalists in Mexico say they are harassed online after being criticized by the president. (AP/Marco Ugarte)

López Obrador’s anti-press rhetoric leaves Mexico’s journalists feeling exposed

During his daily press conference on April 15, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told reporters, “If you go too far, you know what will happen.” López Obrador clarified his remarks the following day, saying he meant that the public would hold reporters who unfairly criticize the government to account. But in a country where…

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A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official is seen at the Santa Fe border crossing from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on February 24, 2019. CPJ recently joined a letter to the Department of Homeland Security regarding the targeting of journalists at the U.S. border. (Reuters/Jose Luis Gonzalez)

CPJ joins letter urging Trump administration to address targeting of journalists at border

Washington, D.C., May 1, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined more than 100 human rights and press freedom groups in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials expressing deep concern over recent actions by the department’s law enforcement agencies–Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement–that threaten the…

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The Supreme Court, pictured on April 15, is due to hear arguments in a case brought by South Dakota daily, the Argus Leader, that centers around exemptions to Freedom of Information Act requests. (AFP/Eric Baradat)

Supreme Court could limit FOIA, curtail investigative reporting

It’s been over eight years since Jonathan Ellis, an investigative reporter at the Argus Leader, filed what he thought was a routine Freedom of Information Act request. He wanted five years of reimbursement data from the Agriculture Department (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)–a program that helps people with low incomes buy food from grocery…

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Metropolitan Police officers carry WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during his arrest, following the Ecuadoran government's termination of asylum, in London on April 11, 2019. (Adrian Cotterill/Daily Dooh via Reuters)

Why the prosecution of Julian Assange is troubling for press freedom

After a seven-year standoff at the Ecuadoran embassy in London, British police yesterday arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange–a development press freedom advocates had long feared.

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2019