Miami (July 28, 2023) - Organized crime and the authorities' inertia are eroding journalists' work in Latin America, according to SIP Bot's weekly report.
In Bolivia, the National Press Association (ANP) denounced that journalist Guider Arancibia was the target of threats due to one of his publications on drug trafficking and asked the government to guarantee his safety. In Colombia, the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) also reported that a criminal group threatened and pressured seven journalists.
In Ecuador, journalists Andersson Boscán and Mónica Velásquez of the digital media La Posta were forced to leave their country due to multiple threats. In a letter sent to the IAPA, the press argued that the attacks were due to the journalistic investigations they were carrying out on corruption in public companies.
Haitian journalist Blondine Tanis, who works for Radio Rénovation FM, was kidnapped on July 21 by one of the criminal gangs operating in Port-au-Prince. Her case joins five other journalists who have been kidnapped this year.
Mexico turned red on IAPA Bot's heat map after Jalisco journalist María Luisa Estrada was the victim of a shooting attack while she was in the street with her daughter. She had been threatened and denounced the lack of government protection.
And, in El Salvador, the government of Nayib Bukele increased prison sentences against members of the "maras" and, at the same time, prosecuted journalist Víctor Barahona who has denounced torture in prisons. The Association of Journalists of El Salvador (APES) published a report in which they confirmed 222 complaints of aggressions against journalists, 385 incidents, 17 displacements and one journalist deprived of his freedom.
On the other hand, in Argentina, the governor of La Rioja accelerated his plans to carry out constitutional reforms that would allow him greater control of the independent media.
In Nicaragua, journalist Marcos Medina declared that Daniel Ortega's regime has "banished him from his homeland" after an airline informed him that he could not enter the country
IAPA Bot is an artificial intelligence tool of the Inter American Press Association that monitors press freedom violations in real time. It tracks information published in the media, Google News, Twitter, and from a selection of IAPA notes and denunciations. In addition, it contains a heat map that allows observing the press freedom climate in each country, a button to make complaints, and a menu that highlights the statements of government leaders, citizens' conversations, and relevant events.
IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications in the Western Hemisphere, based in Miami, Florida, United States.
