Paraguay

Journalist Gerardo Servián was critical of the local administration in Amambay. This latest attack on the life of a media worker demonstrates the necessity of ending impunity and of establishing guarantees for the work of the press.

If the bill is passed, telecom providers will have to store highly personal information about their customers’ Internet use, for one year, for possible future access by law enforcement agencies.

Paraguay’s ex-dictator, Alfredo Stroessner, maintained his grip on power with the help of “pyragues”, informers who monitored the civilian population on his behalf. That’s why so many in the country recognise the dangers in its new proposed data retention bill.

Pablo Medina, a correspondent for ABC Color in Curuguaty, was killed on 16 October 2014. Medina had received threats in the past.

Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes has promulgated a new law which requires public institutions and officials to provide information requested by citizens, such as salaries, official trips and contracts.

Edgar Pantaleón Fernández Fleitas was shot dead by an assailant who entered his law offices in his home in the northern city of Concepción before fleeing on a motorcycle with a man who waited outside, according to news reports.

The Paraguayan Journalists Union condemns the murder of radio journalist Fausto Gabriel Alcaraz, 28, who was shot to death on 16 May 2014 near his home in Amambay department. Alcaraz was the host of the programme “De Frente a la Mañana” and often reported on drug traffickers operating in the area.

The Journalists’ Union of Paraguay condemns the murder of journalist Carlos Artaza, who worked for the press department in the Amambay governor’s office and was victim of a premeditated attack during which he was shot six times.

Reporters Without Borders hopes for quick results from the police investigation into yesterday evening’s murder of local radio station owner and manager Marcelino Vázquez in Pedro Juan Caballero, the capital of Amambay, an eastern department that borders Brazil.

Claiming to be members of the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP), two gunmen left three bombs inside Guyra Campana, a privately-owned radio in the town of Horqueta, on the evening of 4 October. Two of them exploded, causing serious damage and forcing the station off the air. Police defused the third after it failed to go off.

In a continuing purge in the state-owned media, Carlos Goncalves, the producer of the Radio Nacional programme “Redpública,” was notified that his contract will definitely be terminated at the end of the month, while two other programmes could also be affected.

Twenty-seven journalists, technicians and other employees of state-owned TV Pública were denied entry to the TV station’s Asunción headquarters on the grounds that they “cannot continue” to work for the station.

An attempt to censor TV Pública immediately after the Senate vote removing Lugo and the suspension of certain opinion programmes have sparked RSF’s concern about freedom of information.

Cándido Figueredo says he has no doubt who is behind the threats since he reported on the destruction of two underground routes used to smuggle drugs into Brazil and Bolivia.

The latest blow to the Merardo Romero murder case came on 31 December 2011 when one of the suspected instigators, local official Fidel Duarte, was released on bail.

The important political posts held by the suspected masterminds behind the killing of Merardo Romero seem to account for the lack of progress in the investigation, says RSF.