Attacks on the Press in 2012: Ecuador
The press freedom climate continued its sharp decline under President Rafael Correa. Courts upheld defamation convictions against executives of the daily El Universo and authors of the book Big Brother in connection with their critical coverage of the Correa administration. The president, who initiated the complaints, later pardoned the journalists, but the rulings cast a…
Editor responds to verbal attack by Ecuador President
In June, CPJ condemned verbal attacks made by Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa on an editor, Gustavo Cortez, of the country’s daily El Universo. During a visit to CPJ, Cortez spoke about the implications of Correa’s remarks to his safety and to freedom expression in Ecuador. The Huffington Post recounts the visit in the World section of its site. Click here for…
Attacks on the Press in 2011: Ecuador
The press freedom climate continued its sharp decline under President Rafael Correa. In September, a CPJ special report concluded that Correa’s policies had transformed the country into one of the hemisphere’s most restrictive nations for the press. In March, Correa brought a criminal libel complaint against senior managers of El Universo, the country’s leading critical…
In Ecuador, a crushed and silenced democracy
The sentence against Ecuadoran newspaper El Universo, its opinion editor, Emilio Palacio Urrutia, and its three top executives, Carlos Eduardo Pérez Barriga, César Enrique Pérez Barriga, and Carlos Nicolás Pérez Lapentti, for supposed offenses against Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa in Palacio’s article “NO to lies,” is a worn-out manifestation of the perverse concept of public…
In Ecuador, defamation case could set dangerous precedent
A controversial 2011 defamation verdict against the leading Ecuadoran daily El Universo, which became a symbol of vastly deteriorating press conditions under President Rafael Correa, appears headed to a final determination. The nation’s highest court is due to hear the newspaper’s appeal, although the hearing date itself is still subject to intense debate. The ramifications…
In Ecuador, CPJ highlights press freedom decline
The turning point in President Rafael Correa’s aggressive campaign against the private media, Ecuadoran journalists say, came in July with the criminal defamation convictions of four managers of the Guayaquil-based daily El Universo. Bad went to worse when the paper’s former opinion editor and three of its executives were sentenced to jail and fined, along…
Ecuadoran editor and executives sentenced to prison
New York, July 21, 2011–An editor and three executives from the Ecuadoran news daily El Universo were sentenced to three years in prison and $40 million in fines on Wednesday for defaming President Rafael Correa, according to local news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the sentence today and called on Ecuadoran authorities to…
Ecuadoran president sues critical news daily for defamation
New York, March 31, 2011–The critical Ecuadoran daily El Universo, three of its executives, and its opinion editor could face jail time and hefty fines in a defamation complaint filed by President Rafael Correa last week. Correa should immediately drop the defamation suit and bring the country’s press law into compliance with international standards on…
Ecuador on edge: Political paralysis and spiking crime pose new threats to press freedom
In Ecuador, political turmoil and a deepening security crisis are putting reporters and press freedom at increasing risk. President Guillermo Lasso, who dissolved the country’s National Assembly in May as it took steps to impeach him, has proved ineffective at stemming the rise in violent crime and journalists are watching uneasily as the party of…
CPJ Insider: May 2023 edition
Tomorrow is World Press Freedom Day Tomorrow, Wednesday, May 3, will mark the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, a celebration of free expression and our collective right to be informed. A generous donor has pledged to match any gift until we reach our goal of $50,000.This year’s UNESCO-led press freedom web conference for…