Americas

  
The Colombian congress building is seen in Bogota, Colombia, on December 18, 2018. Several lawmakers recently harassed a New York Times journalist and a local press freedom organization online, prompting the journalist to leave the country. (Reuters/Luisa Gonzalez)

New York Times journalist Casey leaves Colombia after online harassment by lawmakers

Miami, May 20, 2019– The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Colombian lawmakers to cease their harassment of New York Times Andes Bureau Chief Nicholas Casey and local press freedom organization, Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP), and to ensure that journalists can report safely in the country.

Read More ›

Álvaro Uribe, center, poses for pictures with supporters at his home in Rionegro, Colombia, in June 2018. Colombia's former president filed a civil defamation suit in the U.S. against journalist Daniel Coronell. (AFP/Joaquin Sarmiento)

Uribe lawsuit part of ‘systematic campaign to silence me,’ Colombian reporter Coronell says

A civil defamation lawsuit filed in a U.S. court by former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez against journalist Daniel Coronell is the latest broadside in a long and bitter dispute pitting one of Colombia’s most powerful politicians against an investigative reporter.

Read More ›

Mexican marines patrol the beach of Playacar, near the resort of Playa del Carmen, in Quintana Roo, in February 2019. Journalist Francisco Romero Díaz was shot dead in Playa del Carmen on May 16. (AFP/Daniel Slim)

Mexican reporter Francisco Romero Díaz shot dead in Playa del Carmen

Mexico City, May 17, 2019–Mexican authorities must immediately undertake a credible and transparent investigation into the killing of Francisco Romero Díaz, a reporter who was shot dead yesterday in Playa del Carmen, a beachside resort in the southern Mexican state of Quintana Roo, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Read More ›

An injured man receives first aid after a gunman opened fire, killing two and injuring a journalist, in the central square of Cuernavaca, Morelos state, in Mexico on May 8, 2019. (AFP/STR)

Mexican cameraman shot, journalists threatened in Morelos state

On May 8, 2019, a gunman shot and injured camera operator René Pérez while the journalist was covering a protest march in Cuernavaca, the capital of Mexico’s southern Morelos state, according to news reports. A local businessman and a union leader, the gunman’s targets, were killed in the attack, according to those reports.

Read More ›

Members of the press and the Bolivarian National Guard, pictured outside the Federal Legislative Palace, in Caracas, on May 15, 2019. Local and international journalists say there are several challenges to covering the Venezuela crisis. (AFP/Ronaldo Schemidt)

Caracas full of uncertainty for journalists covering Venezuela crisis

A year after disputed national elections in Venezuela, and with access to information growing ever-scarcer, the country remains in a political and economic crisis. Conditions for the press have deteriorated further since January, when Juan Guaidó, the head of the opposition-led national assembly, declared himself interim president.

Read More ›

Security camera footage shows police during a raid on the home of freelancer Bryan Carmody, in San Francisco, on May 10. Officers confiscated electronic devices and documents. (Bryan Carmody)

San Francisco police raid freelancer Bryan Carmody’s home

New York May 13, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a raid by San Francisco police on the home of freelance journalist Bryan Carmody, and called on authorities to immediately return electronic devices, documents, and other seized property.

Read More ›

A police officer is seen in Cucuta, Colombia, on February 7, 2019. Documentary filmmaker Mauricio Lezama was recently shot and killed in the village of La Esmeralda. (Reuters/Luisa Gonzalez)

Documentary filmmaker Mauricio Lezama shot and killed in Colombia

Bogotá, May 13, 2019 — Colombian authorities should conduct a swift and comprehensive investigation into the killing of documentary filmmaker Mauricio Lezama Rengifo and ensure those responsible are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Read More ›

A screenshot of MCCI coverage of the May 6 cyberattack on their website.

Mexican anti-corruption news website MCCI hit with cyberattack

New York, May 10, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a cyberattack on Mexicanos Contra La Corrupción y Impunidad (MCCI), a Mexican nonprofit news outlet that publishes in-depth investigations into corruption in Mexico and Latin America.

Read More ›

A vendor sells newspapers showing the results of Mexico's presidential elections, in Mexico City, in July 2018. Mexico's new government has said it will address the opaque practice of government advertising in media. (AFP/Ulises Ruiz)

Mexico’s press question president’s commitment to press advertising reform

When Andrés Manuel López Obrador won Mexico’s presidential elections last year with a promise to drastically cut the millions of dollars the government spends on press advertising each year, it appeared to signal the end to an opaque system that has been criticized as a way for governments to encourage favorable coverage.

Read More ›

Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya (L) speaks during a press conference on November 2, 2014, in Havana, Cuba. Colombia sentenced two ex-paramilitary fighters for a 2000 attack on Bedoya on May 6, 2019. (AFP/Adalberto Roque)

Colombia sentences two ex-paramilitary fighters for 2000 attack on Jineth Bedoya

Miami, May 8, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the sentencing on May 6 of former paramilitary fighters Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco and Jesús Emiro Pereira Rivera for the kidnapping, rape, and torture of Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya Lima in 2000.

Read More ›