Journalist facing charges in Ecuador files for asylum in Peru
April 18, 2017 4:52 PM ET
New York, April 18, 2017--Ecuadoran journalist Fernando Villavicencio, director of the news website Focus Ecuador and a critic of outgoing President Rafael Correa, today filed a petition for political asylum in Lima, Peru. A statement from the regional press group...
Judge orders journalist's arrest for publishing confidential documents
November 15, 2016 5:31 PM ET
New York, November 15, 2016--An Ecuadoran judge last night approved an arrest warrant for journalist Fernando Villavicencio on charges of distributing emails sent by public officials, according to the journalist's lawyer. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities...
Ecuador issues sanctions for cartoon mocking congressman
February 23, 2015 2:19 PM ET
On February 13, 2015, Ecuador's media oversight commission, the Superintendency of Information and Communication (SUPERCOM), ordered the Guayaquil-based daily El Universo to publish an apology in connection with a cartoon drawn by Xavier Bonilla, a cartoonist known by his penname...
Life on the run in Amazon jungle for journalist charged with defaming president
December 9, 2014 2:39 PM ET
For Ecuadoran journalist and political activist Fernando Villavicencio, life on the lam has meant wading through jungle rivers to avoid police checkpoints, dining on crocodile and monkey meat, and penning his latest book from a series of safe houses....
Pressured by government, Ecuadoran cartoonist is forced to adjust
July 8, 2014 10:34 AM ET
Called to testify before a government media oversight commission, editorial cartoonist Xavier Bonilla--known by his penname Bonil--showed up with a pair of four-foot-long mock pencils. But rather than having a small eraser on the tip, one of Bonil's giant pencils...
Cartoonist sanctioned under Ecuador's communications law
February 3, 2014 2:47 PM ET
Bogotá, February 3, 2014- The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision by Ecuador's media oversight agency on Friday to use the country's communications law to sanction the leading local daily El Universo over a critical cartoon. The agency fined...
Correa steps up fight; hacking alleged on both sides
January 17, 2014 12:10 PM ET
Seven months after Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa flirted with the idea of offering asylum to former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, intercepted communications and leaked emails are again making headlines in the Andean country. This time, the story...