Attacks on the Press 2007: Americas Analysis
Preaching Without A ChoirBy Carlos LauríaAt June’s annual assembly of the organization of American states (OAS) in Panama, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged foreign ministers to send the group’s secretary-general, José Miguel Insulza, to investigate Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Frías’ decision to pull the plug on the country’s oldest private television station, RCTV.
Attacks on the Press 2007: Cuba
CUBA July 31 marked a year without Fidel Castro, whose health remained a “state secret” even though it was the biggest story of the year. Cuba continued to prove itself one of the worst reporting environments in the world as three foreign journalists were expelled from the island and 24 Cuban reporters languished in prison.
Cuban journalist released after 15 months in prison
New York, August 21, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Monday’s release of independent Cuban journalist Armando Betancourt Reina, who had been imprisoned at the Cerámica Roja Prison in the central city of Camagüey since May 2006. Betancourt Reina, a reporter for the independent news agency Nueva Prensa Cubana, left prison Monday morning, reported the…
Independent journalist, held for more than a year, is sentenced
New York, July 6, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the 15-month prison sentence given Tuesday to independent Cuban journalist Armando Betancourt Reina on charges of public disorder. Betancourt Reina had been held without charge in a prison in the central city of Camagüey since May 2006.
CUBA: Health of jailed independent journalist worsens, says family
June 22, 2007 José Luis García Paneque, Libertad IMPRISONED The health of García Paneque, the imprisoned director of the independent news agency Libertad, deteriorated considerably over the prior two months, his wife Yamilé Llánez Labrada told CPJ. García Paneque is being held at Las Mangas Prison in Granma province.
CUBA: Health of independent journalist in prison deteriorates
June 21, 2007 Normando Hernández González, Colegio de Periodistas Independientes de Camagüey IMPRISONED The health of imprisoned journalist Hernández González, director of the Colegio de Periodistas Independientes de Camagüey, worsened visibly between April and June, according to press reports and CPJ interviews.
In Cuba, health of jailed journalists deteriorates
New York, June 20, 2007—Families and friends of eight independent Cuban journalists who have been unjustly imprisoned since 2003 say that the health of their loved ones has seriously deteriorated in recent months amid poor prison conditions and insufficient health care. In a series of interviews with the Committee to Protect Journalists, relatives and friends…
Backsliders: The 10 countries where press freedom has most deteriorated
New York, May 2, 2007–Three nations in sub-Saharan Africa are among the places worldwide where press freedom has deteriorated the most over the last five years, a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found. Ethiopia, where the government launched a massive crackdown on the private press by shutting newspapers and jailing editors,…