Americas

  

Several journalists flee Cuba after state agents question, pressure at least 8

Miami, October 11, 2024—CPJ is alarmed by reports that since mid-September, Cuban state security agents questioned at least eight journalists and media workers from non-state media outlets, many in connection to alleged crimes against the state, leading several to flee the country.  “The Cuban government appears to be engaged in a campaign of harassment and…

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In this March 18, 1982 photo, television cameramen photograph blood-soaked, bullet-ridden clothes believed to belong to four Dutch journalists killed in a wooded area near this village in the province of Chalatenango, in El Salvador. Jan Kuiper, Koos Koster, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemsen were killed in 1982 while on assignment for IKON, a Dutch public TV broadcaster. (AP Photo/P.W. Hamilton)

U.S. complaint filed against Salvadoran officer in 1982 killing of Dutch journalists

São Paulo, October 10, 2024—CPJ welcomes the civil complaint filed in a U.S. court against Mario Adalberto Reyes Mena, one of several Salvadoran military officers alleged to be connected to the March 17, 1982 ambush and killing of Dutch TV journalists Jan Kuiper, Koos Koster, Joop Willemsen, and Hans ter Laag in Chalatenango, El Salvador, during their coverage of…

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CPJ, partners call for journalist José Rubén Zamora’s release after 800 days of arbitrary detention

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined eight other press freedom organizations in calling for the release of Guatemalan journalist José Ruben Zamora, who has spent 800 days in detention since his July 29, 2022 arrest on charges of money laundering charges—which international organizations describe as arbitrary and politically motivated. The statement urged the Guatemalan government, especially President…

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CPJ, partners urge US Congress to pass PRESS Act

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined more than 100 news outlets and press rights organizations in a letter on Tuesday, October 8, asking U.S. Congressional members to support the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act (PRESS Act). The bill would create a federal shield safeguarding reporter-source confidentiality and prevent government access to unreported source…

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Peruvian journalist Paola Ugaz

CPJ condemns Peruvian journalist communications secrecy lifting

São Paulo, 4 October, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office to immediately close the illicit enrichment case against investigative journalist Paola Ugaz and reverse its order to her phone company to disclose her phone records and geolocation data from 2013 to 2020. On September 26, Ugaz appealed to the court…

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Palenque Visión journalist and civil rights activist Yeris Curbelo Aguilera was convicted of causing “minor injuries” following a physical altercation with local youths. (Screenshot: PalenqueVisión.com)

Journalist Yeris Curbelo Aguilera sentenced to 2 years in prison in Cuba

Miami, October 3, 2024—Cuban authorities should re-examine the case of journalist Yeris Curbelo Aguilera, who was sentenced to two years in prison on September 24, and consider dropping all charges against him, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday. “The Cuban government continues to be nothing short of draconian in its efforts to squash independent…

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Jimmy Chérizier, a former elite police officer who now runs a gang federation, stands with his gang members in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in March 2024.

Haitian journalist threatened over article about Reuters reporters’ gifts to gang leader

Miami, September 30, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by threats made against journalist Widlore Mérancourt by Haitian gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier over his article about a Reuters journalist giving Cherizier gifts of balaclavas, alcohol, and cigarettes. “We are very concerned about the threats made against AyiboPost’s editor-in-chief Widlore Mérancourt by the Haitian…

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Attendees gather at the U..N. Summit of the Future conference on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024 at U.N. headquarters in New York. (Photo: AP/Frank Franklin II)

CPJ calls for stronger action to safeguard press freedoms at UN Summit of the Future

Ahead of the United Nations’ Summit of the Future that began Sunday, the Committee to Protect Journalists and 123 other signatories released a statement September 19, 2024, welcoming the final revision of the Pact for the Future and urging strong action to safeguard media freedom, freedom of expression, and access to information. The Pact for…

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In post-election Venezuela, journalist jailings reach record high, media goes underground

Shortly after Venezuela’s disputed presidential election in July, security agents arrested journalist Ana Carolina Guaita and then contacted her family to make a deal. They offered to release Guaita if her mother, Xiomara Barreto, who worked on the opposition campaign to defeat President Nicolás Maduro, turned herself in. Barreto, who is in hiding, rejected the…

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A person holding a flag.

Mexico City police arrest 2 journalists at human rights protest

Mexico City, September 9, 2024—Police beat at least two journalists and arrested two others during a protest for human rights in Xochimilco, a southern borough of Mexico City, on Thursday, September 5, according to members of the media who witnessed the incidents. “By brutally repressing a social protest and attacking journalists who were simply covering…

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