Costa Rica The nine-year legal battle of Mauricio Herrera Ulloa, a reporter with the San José–based daily La Nación (The Nation), ended on August 3, when the Inter-American Court of Human Rights announced a ruling overturning his 1999 conviction on criminal defamation charges. The Costa Rica–based court also ruled that the sentence harmed the reporter’s…
Cuba Six Cuban journalists jailed in a crackdown that began in March 2003 were released in 2004, but with 23 members of the media still behind bars, this Caribbean nation remains one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, second only to China. During 2004, Cuban authorities continued their systematic harassment of journalists and their…
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic suffered an acute economic and social crisis in 2004, with violent crimes occurring almost daily. Criminal gangs escalated attacks against journalists who denounced their activities. On September 14, two gunmen on a motorcycle attacked two journalists who had reported on a criminal gang in the town of Azua, 75 miles…
Ecuador Lucio Gutiérrez, who was elected president in 2002 on an anticorruption platform, repeatedly lashed out at the press in 2004 over allegations of nepotism and campaign finance irregularities. The president and government officials regularly accused the media of “spreading half-truths.” Given the government’s hostility, journalists fear that a new access to information law may…
El Salvador During the March 2004 presidential elections, partisan divisions in the Salvadoran press intensified, while journalists continued to face serious restrictions on access to government information. In a positive development, on October 28 the National Assembly approved reforms of the Salvadoran Penal Code that, among other things, protect journalists from being forced to reveal…
Guatemala In December 2004, the U.N. Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) ceased monitoring the implementation of the 1996 peace accords that ended decades of civil conflict. The end of the MINUGUA mission was a political milestone for Guatemala, yet the peace accords have not been fully implemented, and human rights abuses remain widespread.
Haiti Supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide attacked opposition journalists in the months prior to the uprising that forced Aristide from power in February. After the president fled the country, rebel groups targeted pro-Aristide journalists, particularly in Haiti’s rural northern and central regions. Violence against journalists was especially intense in January and February, when the…
Mexico While journalists in the capital, Mexico City, report freely on government, crime, and corruption, reporters in the U.S.-Mexico border region risk grave danger in covering sensitive topics, such as drug trafficking. Two border journalists were killed for their work in 2004. Francisco Ortiz Franco, 48, an editor and reporter with the tabloid weekly Zeta,…
Nicaragua Nicaraguan journalists say they are often able to work freely, but reporters in isolated regions where the government has little control remain at particular risk from drug traffickers and corrupt officials. Relations between the government and the press have improved since President Enrique Bolaños Geyer took office in 2002. Journalists say they are able…
Panama Despite legislative steps toward repealing desacato (disrespect) laws in 2004, Panama’s press is among the most legally constricted in Latin America. The country’s “gag laws,” which include a range of statutes criminalizing criticism of public officials, were enacted under military rule in the 1960s. Some of these laws have been repealed, but Panamanian authorities…