New York, April 23, 2004—An unidentified gunman killed Alberto Rivera Fernández, a host of a radio show and a political activist, in Peru’s eastern Ucayali Department, on Wednesday, April 21. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is investigating whether the murder was related to Rivera’s journalistic work. Rivera, 54, hosted the morning show “Transparencia” (Transparency),…
Dear Mrs. Calderón: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the murder of Peruvian journalist Antonio de la Torre Echeandía, who was killed after leaving a party on February 14, 2004, in the city of Yungay, in northern Ancash Department. Based on recent developments in the case, we are concerned Yungay authorities may have been…
Economic and political turmoil throughout Latin America in 2002 had profound implications for the region’s press. Sharp decreases in advertising revenue bankrupted many media outlets, while the failure to consolidate democratic reforms left the media vulnerable to legal and physical assault. Five journalists were killed in Latin America in 2002 for their work.
The Peruvian press continues to recover from the authoritarian and corrupt rule of Alberto K. Fujimori, who was Peru’s president from 1990 until 2000, when a scandal forced him to resign and flee the country. During the last years of his regime, Fujimori managed to control much of the news agenda with the complicity of…
The U.S. government took aggressive measures in 2002 to shield some of its activities from press scrutiny. These steps not only reduced access for U.S. reporters but had a global ripple effect, with autocratic leaders citing U.S. government actions to justify repressive policies.
February 13, 2003 TO: Fausto Alvarado Dodero Minister of Justice of the Republic of Peru Scipión Llona 350, Miraflores Lima, Peru Via facsimile: + 51-1-422-3577 Dear Mr. Alvarado Dodero: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to inquire about the status of journalist Juan de Mata Jara Berrospi, who was sentenced in 1994 to…
New York, February 13, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) sent separate letters today to Peru’s minister of justice, Fausto Alvarado Dodero, requesting information about the status of journalist Juan de Mata Jara Berrospi, who was sentenced in 1994 to 20 years in prison on charges of collaborating with terrorists.…
New York, April 10, 2002—The editor of a fortnightly publication that criticized alleged corruption at a university in the southern city of Arequipa has received death threats, CPJ has learned. Mabel Cáceres Calderón, editor of El Búho, works in the afternoon at the engineering sciences library of the Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (UNSA). On…