Inter American Press Association

A car bomb exploded a short distance from the paper’s offices, slightly injuring five people who were walking nearby and damaging several vehicles.

The channel’s lawyer anticipated that there were actions remaining to be resolved in the First Court of Administrative Litigation, such as another appeal, meaning that the fine was not yet enforceable.

Raúl Régulo Garza Quirino, a reporter with “La Última Palabra”, was reportedly followed by armed men traveling in another vehicle.

IAPA concluded that this was one of the most “challenging and tragic” years for the countries of the Americas and reaffirmed its commitment to confront the next challenges.

The organisation characterised attempts by the government to control press freedom via a law regulating the manufacture and marketing of newsprint as “malicious”.

Five committees of the Chamber of Deputies at an extraordinary session yesterday approved a bill declaring the manufacture, commercialization and distribution of newsprint for newspapers to be of public interest.

The Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations warned of a progressive loss of fundamental rights in Ecuador, stressed the importance of the Inter-American system, and urged governments to combat physical violence against journalists and impunity.

Julio Chaparro and Jorge Torres were killed on April 24, 1991 in Segovia, where they had been sent by their newspaper, El Espectador of Bogotá, to cover the consequences of a massacre there two years earlier, in which 43 people died.