El Salvador

Violent crime is pervasive in El Salvador and several journalists have been murdered in recent years; read about the safety training being given to the local journalists who are most at risk.

Salvadoran authorities must conduct a swift and credible investigation of escalating online and physical threats against journalists at two digital news outlets and enact sufficient measures to ensure the journalists’ safety.

Mayor of San Salvador, Nayib Bukele, sues La Prensa Gráfica for six million dollars, alleging grievances caused by press investigations.

For the past several months, Nicolás García, 23, had been hosting a programme on El Carrizal-based radio Expressa, voces al aire in which he advised local residents on how to protect themselves from violence.

The Inter American Press Association asked the El Salvador Attorney General’s Office to carry out an exhaustive and swift investigation following a formal complaint of Internet attacks on the newspaper La Prensa Gráfica, an offense that has been repeated with increasing frequency in the countries of the Americas.

The president’s relations with the media have been distant and he has shown little interest in answering questions.

Aged 23, Carlos José Orellana worked for local TV station Canal 99. The police investigating his death have not as yet suggested a possible motive.

Reporters Without Borders joins the Association of Salvadoran Journalists (APES) in calling for an investigation into a death threat made in broad daylight against a crew from the television station Canal 12 in Santa Tecla.

Jonathan Martínez Castro, a “marero” (gang member), was sentenced by a San Salvador court for the April 2011 murder of Canal 33 cameraman Alfredo Hurtado. His alleged accomplice, Marlon Abrego Rivas, also known as “Gato,” is currently a fugitive.

El Salvador’s new generation of journalists would do well to be proactive, to work together, and to speak as one on the issues that endanger them all, says CPJ.

The editor of the news website El Faro says his staff members have been followed after the site reported on a criminal network involving politicians.

A letter received by the radio station said that the journalists had to leave the Cabañas community before 4 May or they would be killed.

While the reason for Alfredo Hurtado’s death is unknown, Canal 33 said his murder could have been linked to his work for the “Teleprensa” programme, mostly covering the police beat.

TEASER: “This verdict marks a victory in the fight against impunity but as an attempt to establish the truth [in the Christian Poveda case], it may have been too hasty,” said RSF.

President Mauricio Funes was urged to immediately sign and implement the legislation.

Christian Poveda was one of the few journalists to cover the country’s local gangs from the inside.