Opinion: 23 voices, 23 faces, just one battle cry

Jineth Bedoya Lima, a Colombian journalist whose investigations have led to attempts on her life, on the impact of being profiled in this year's Day to End Impunity campaign.

Taking Sides: Is Hugo Chávez's re-election good news for free expression in Venezuela?

Venezuelan media organisations Periodistas por la Verdad and Instituto Prensa y Sociedad Venezuela offer opposing points of view on what President Hugo Chávez's next six-year term means for free expression.

Media come under attack amid strike by police officers

The wave of labour unrest that has been rocking Bolivia for months took a disturbing turn when the police launched a mutiny to demand more pay and journalists in several cities became the targets of their anger, reports Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The La Paz-based National Press Association (Asociación Nacional de la Prensa, ANP) recorded several assaults on the press.

Bomb attack targets former minister

A radio talk show host who used to be a government minister was injured in a bombing in Bogotá shortly after he criticised a constitutional amendment that would open the doors to peace talks with rebel groups, report the Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP) and other IFEX members. There has been no bombing in the capital since 2003.

Lawyer killed while investigating murder of journalist

A district attorney investigating the killing of Peruvian journalist Pedro Flores Silva in 2011 was shot to death last week, reports the Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS).

Court bans media from reporting on water pollution claims

A Venezuelan court has ruled that the press cannot report on water contamination issues without using government-approved information, report the Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS-Venezuela), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Correa's pardon won't change alarming free expression situation, say IFEX members

Amid mounting international condemnation, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said he would pardon a former editor and three owners of "El Universo", who were fined US$40 million and sentenced to three years in prison in a libel case, report the Andean Foundation for Media Observation & Study (Fundamedios). While IFEX members welcomed the gesture, some remained concerned for Ecuador's alarming free expression situation.

American human rights commission orders suspension of sentence against "El Universo"

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has asked Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa to suspend the sentence in a criminal libel case against newspaper "El Universo" until a hearing between the two parties can be held next month, report the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International and news reports.

Correa's defamation win exposes country's "disturbing" free expression situation

Two Ecuadoran journalists have been ordered to pay President Rafael Correa US$2 million in moral damages - the latest in a string of incidents that point to a "disturbing" and "deteriorating" free expression situation in Ecuador under President Rafael Correa, says IFEX-ALC, an alliance of 16 IFEX members in Latin America and the Caribbean. The ruling does not look good for the daily "El Universo", whose appeal in a multimillion dollar defamation case is being heard today.

Two journalists killed in a week

A Brazilian journalist who reported on corruption was shot to death on Sunday night near the Paraguayan border in what police say was a possible contract killing, reports IFEX's member in Brazil the Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo (ABRAJI) as well as other IFEX members. It was the second murder of a Brazilian journalist in less than week, says ABRAJI.

Propaganda campaign against independent media and rights organisation intensifies

As government officials were interrupting various news programmes attempting to discredit FUNDAMEDIOS, the IFEX member in Ecuador, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) was wrapping up a press freedom mission that concluded independent media workers in the country face a general "climate of hostility." Even more alarming are death threats sent to staff of the Andean Foundation for Media Observation & Study (FUNDAMEDIOS) at the same time.

Journalist killed in crossfire while covering a police operation

A journalist was killed in the crossfire between police and a drug gang while accompanying an early morning police operation, report the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (ABRAJI), the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

New FOI law lauded by IFEX groups as boon to transparency and democracy

It took eight years since its initial proposal but Brazil's Senate has passed a comprehensive Freedom of Information (FOI) Law that goes a long way to promoting government transparency and the democratic participation of citizens and the media, report the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (ABRAJI), ARTICLE 19 and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

"Dirty War" generals sentenced, multiple radio stations attacked

Over the past two months, numerous radio stations have been violently attacked in separate incidents and through various means - from arson, to armed hold-ups, to vandalism - pointing to systematic efforts to censor the airwaves across Argentina, report the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA), Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Meanwhile, FOPEA expresses "profound satisfaction" after the killers of a journalist in 1977 were finally brought to justice.

Government rejects UPR recommendations on free expression

On 11 October, the Venezuelan government rejected all requests to improve aspects of freedom of expression recommended by IFEX members and included in the final report of the United Nations Human Rights Council during the 12th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva.

Follow @IFEXALC at the UN's Universal Periodic Review of Venezuela

IFEX's contingent of 17 Latin American and Caribbean (ALC) freedom of expression organisations is calling on supporters to tune in to their coverage of the United Nation Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Venezuela by reading IFEX-ALC's live blog and following @IFEXALC on Twitter and encouraging others to do the same.

Correa's hypocrisy on display amid assault on media

Shortly after a provincial court in Guayas, Ecuador, upheld a bankrupting US$40 million fine and three-year jail sentences for three "El Universo" newspaper directors and one writer, President Rafael Correa insulted his critics during a public speech at Columbia University in New York, report the Andean Foundation for Media Observation & Study (FUNDAMEDIOS), the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

With three new deaths, Latin America is most dangerous region for journalists, say IFEX members

Three journalists have been killed in the space of a week in Brazil, Honduras and Peru, cementing Latin America's status as the most dangerous region for journalists in 2011 so far, report IFEX members.

Citizen protests draw attention to media concentration problems, says new RSF report

A surge in citizen unrest in Chile, from students demonstrating against an unfair and expensive school system to miners demanding better working conditions, may help break up the country's media oligopoly inherited from the Pinochet regime, says a new report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

President Correa's critics sent to prison for criminal defamation, fined millions

In a 20 July ruling, an Ecuadorean judge sentenced a journalist and three newspaper executives to prison for three years with a $40 million fine for publishing a column that questioned the appropriateness of an army raid to rescue President Rafael Correa from a demonstration of striking policemen. The criminal conviction of Correa's critics is a major blow to press freedom, violating Ecuador's international human rights obligations, say the Andean Foundation for Media Observation & Study (Fundamedios), the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and other IFEX members.