Mexican

New York, May 31, 2002—A three-judge appeals panel yesterday sentenced two men to a 13-year prison term for the 1998 murder of Philip True, a Mexico City correspondent for the San Antonio Express-News. The unanimous ruling overturned an August 2001 verdict that had acquitted the two men. The men were found guilty of “intentional homicide,”…

New York, May 10, 2002—A Mexican newspaper publisher appeared on Wednesday, May 8, before a public prosecutor in Mexico City to respond to criminal defamation charges brought against him by a local politician. Alejandro Junco de la Vega, president and publisher of the Mexico City daily REFORMA, was charged over an article alleging that Carlos…

Amid harassment and violence against journalists, human rights activists, and judges involved in high-profile cases, Guatemala’s political stability deteriorated considerably in 2001, and press freedom along with it. The administration of President Alfonso Portillo Cabrera, a member of the right-wing Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG), showed little tolerance for criticism of any kind.

President Vicente Fox’s historic election in 2000 marked the end of the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party’s (PRI) domination of the country and its media. But the honeymoon between the president and the media ended in 2001 with increasingly critical coverage that reflected the public’s frustration with the slow pace of reforms under the new government.

New York, February 28, 2002—Police and state security agents yesterday attacked Reuters journalists Alfredo Tedeschi and Andrew Cawthorne with batons while they covered an incident in front of the Mexican embassy in Havana. A group of Cuban citizens used a bus to crash into the gates of the embassy in hopes of seeking asylum, according…

Dear Mr. Ramírez Acuña: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the investigation into the 1998 murder of American journalist Philip True and the prosecution of the two suspects accused of this crime. On August 3, Colotlán municipal judge José Luis Reyes Contreras acquitted Juan Chivarra de la Cruz and his brother-in-law Miguel Hernández de la Cruz, who had been accused of murdering True. The Jalisco State attorney general’s office appealed the acquittals in a September 25 hearing before a panel of three judges from the State Supreme Court of Justice. A ruling on the appeal is expected soon.

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a nonpartisan organization dedicated to the defense of press freedom around the world, is writing to protest criminal defamation charges filed against Carolina Pavón, a reporter with the Mexico City daily REFORMA, and Alejandro Junco de la Vega, president and publisher of the paper.

Su Excelencia: El Comité para la Protección de los Periodistas (CPJ), una organización no partidista dedicada a la defensa de la libertad de prensa en todo el mundo, le escribe para protestar por los cargos penales por difamación presentados contra Carolina Pavón, una reportera del diario de Ciudad de México REFORMA, y Alejandro Junco de la Vega, presidente y propietario del diario.

Su Excelencia: El Comité para la Protección de los Periodistas (CPJ), una organización no partidista dedicada a la defensa de la libertad de prensa en todo el mundo, le escribe para protestar por los cargos penales por difamación presentados contra Carolina Pavón, una reportera del diario de Ciudad de México REFORMA, y Alejandro Junco de la Vega, presidente y propietario del diario.