Inter American Press Association

During a visit to the IAPA offices on November 8, Marianela Montenegro, a journalist and owner of Canal 33 television in Cochabamba reported that she has been harassed and threatened and the offices of her channel have been broken into on two occasions.

Nery Adalberto Recarte, journalist and owner of Canal 34 television and La Popularísima radio station was attacked on November 11 by two unidentified assailants who shot him several times as he was getting into his car outside the building where the broadcast stations are located.

The Inter American Press Association expressed concern at the belittling of Ecuadorean and Argentine journalists by officials in their respective countries after they last week denounced abuses of press freedom to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

The Declaration of Chapultepec, a document promoting the applicability of journalistic values in the Western Hemisphere, has been signed by 61 presidents of countries in the Americas since its promulgation on 11 March 1994.

A Supreme Court decision has declared a 2009 media law constitutional, meaning that media conglomerate Grupo Clarín must divest itself of a large portion of its media holdings.

In Colombia, where the statute of limitations for crimes against journalists often results in journalists’ murders expiring, unsolved, the recent murder of newspaper vendor José Darío Arenas in broad daylight has inspired outrage and calls for action from IFEX members.

Claudia Trevisan, a correspondent for the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, was arrested and held for five hours for alleged “trespassing” on Yale University while she tried to interview the chief justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court.

The Inter American Press Association calls on the Venezuelan government to terminate its foreign currency requirements for newsprint paper and printing materials, so that several outlets can resume publication after having suspended it due to lack of supplies.