The unfortunate violence against journalists has again stained Mexican territory red on the IAPA Bot map. Jesús Gutiérrez Vergara, director of the portal "Notiface Prensa Digital de San Luis", was shot dead in a municipality on the border with Arizona, United States. The mayor of the town announced the capture of three alleged killers. Also, a team from Multimedios Televisión was attacked in the capital while covering the news in Mexico.
In Colombia, the mayor of Medellín, Daniel Quintero, stigmatized journalist Ana Cristina Restrepo, president of the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) board of directors. He accused her of having political motivations and of spreading false information.
Former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe accused journalist Rodrigo Uprimny of publishing a column entitled "False positives, the JEP and Uribe." For the past three years, FLIP has documented numerous cases of stigmatization of media and journalists in Colombia.
In Argentina, a reporter and a cameraman of the Crónica HD channel were brutally attacked while covering a traffic accident on a highway.
The Association of Journalists of El Salvador (APES) reported that since the inauguration of President Nayib Bukele, attacks on freedom of expression have increased. Since 2019, 611 violations against the press have been documented.
Venezuela remains colored red on the IAPA Bot heat map. The Institute of Press and Society Venezuela (IPYS) recorded 25 restrictions on access to information so far this year. The country is second to last in the Chapultepec Index, a barometer of institutional actions regarding freedom of the press and expression
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.
