Blog | Bolivia, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela
Lately, we have come to expect violence against journalists in certain regions, such as the Middle East. But here at CPJ, 2011 has also been troubling for the number of journalists killed in an entirely different part of the world, the Americas.
Acclaimed Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez has had her share of honors lately. Last year alone, her blogging, which offers a personal and critical view of life in Cuba, was honored by the Dutch Prince Claus Fund, the International Press Institute, and the Danish Centre for Political Studies. This week, Sánchez received a very different type of distinction--from the Cuban government. She was featured on Monday night's installment of "Las Razones de Cuba" (Cuban Reasons), a state-sponsored TV program and website that chronicles perceived threats to the government and singles out independent journalists as enemies of the state.
When a federal judge issued an order last week to suspend screenings of documentary that investigates incompetence in the Mexican judicial system, it looked like the film might be falling victim to the very system it criticizes. The film, "Presumed Guilty" ("Presunto Culpable" in Spanish), exposes flaws in the Mexican judicial system as it charts two Mexican attorneys' efforts to exonerate street vendor Jose Antonio Zúñiga, who was convicted of murder in 2005 and was serving a 20-year sentence.
Venezuelan Information Minister Andrés
Izarra declared
on the state
television channel VTV last week that "never has so much been done to
guarantee, promote, and drive freedom of expression than in the government of
President Hugo Chávez." Izarra needs to hire a fact-checker.
In 2005, a series of chilling death
threats compelled award-winning Colombian journalist Daniel Coronell to leave
Bogotá with his family for what ended up being a two-year stay in California. Today,
more than three years after his return from exile, Coronell and his family are moving
back to the States, this time by choice. CPJ spoke to him last week about how
his return U.S. to take on a high-level position at a major TV network compares
to his exile in 2005, and the press freedom conditions he's leaving behind in
Colombia.
Former dictator Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier is facing some blowback after breezing into Haiti last Sunday following a 25-year absence. On Wednesday, prominent Haitian journalist and former UN spokesperson Michele Montas joined three others in filing criminal complaints against the former dictator who returned to the country Sunday, just days after the anniversary of last year's devastating earthquake.
One year after the devastating January 12, 2010, earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and crippled Haiti's media infrastructure, the country's media have made significant strides toward recovery even as they face enormous ongoing challenges.
It's hard to trace things to their origin. But had I not met exiled Colombian journalist Fernando Garavito in early 2004, I don't know that I would have chosen to work, professionally, as a defender of freedom of expression.
Merid Estifanos was still in his afternoon French class when
I arrived at the Maison des Journalistes (MDJ) this afternoon to meet him. I
was greeted instead by Maison's director, Philippe Spinau, who gave me the
grand tour of the house that has been home to many journalists who, like
Estifanos, were forced into exile for their work.
Do you believe the free flow of information must be protected? Sign the #RightToReport petition and demand that President Obama immediately:
1. Issue a presidential policy directive prohibiting the hacking and surveillance of journalists and media organizations.
2. Limit aggressive prosecutions that ensnare journalists and intimidate whistleblowers.
3. Prevent the harassment of journalists at the U.S. border.
Or click here to see the full petition, and join leading journalists like Christiane Amanpour, The Guardian’s Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the AP Kathleen Carroll, and Arianna Huffington in signing on.
