Reporters Without Borders is shocked to learn that local radio journalist Fausto Gabriel Alcaraz was gunned down by two individuals on a motorcycle in the eastern border city of Pedro Juan Caballero on 16 May. Alcaraz, who worked for Radio Amambay, was shot 11 times. Senator Robert Acevedo, the station’s owner, said that Alcaraz had often accused people by name of involvement in regional drug trafficking in his radio programme. “It is vital that this murder should not go...

For the first time ever, Reporters Without Borders is publishing a list of profiles of “100 information heroes” for World Press Freedom Day (3 May).Through their courageous work or activism, these “100 heroes” help to promote the freedom enshrined in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the freedom to “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” They put their ideals in the service of...

An Argentine special prosecutor's accusation that Iran has established terrorist networks throughout Latin America has renewed debate over how big a threat that poses to the region and the United States. Alberto Nisman, who is investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people, said in a 500-page report released last week that Iran has been building the networks for nearly 30 years. That assessment coincides with a viewpoint held by many Western...

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. A marijuana-growing region with a reputation for being dangerous, Amambay is also a leading hub in the trafficking of so-called hard drugs to the Southern Cone countries. Its journalists are constantly exposed to threats,...

Reporters Without Borders joins the Paraguayan Journalists’ Union (SPP) in demanding justice and protection for the journalists who were the target of a bomb attack by two gunmen last week in the northern department of Concepción, and for all other journalists working in high-risk regions like Concepción. Claiming to be members of the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP), the two gunmen left three bombs inside Guyra Campana, a privately-owned radio in the town of Horqueta...

In a continuing purge in the state-owned media, Carlos Goncalves, the producer of the Radio Nacional programme “Redpública,” was notified on 17 September that his contract will definitely be terminated at the end of the month, while two other programmes could also be affected, Reporters Without Borders has learned. The situation has been further exacerbated by the direct threats that two women journalists have received from people close to Federico Franco, who took over as...

Iran's president on Tuesday lauded his country's newly launched Spanish-language satellite TV channel, saying it would deal a blow to "dominance seekers" - remarks that were an apparent jab at the U.S. and the West. The launch is Tehran's latest effort to reach out to friendly governments in Latin America and follows Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's four-nation tour of the region earlier in January, which included stops in Cuba and visits to Venezuela, Nicaragua and Ecuador. It also comes...

Univision, the largest TV broadcaster in Spanish of the United States, recently presented a report showing that Iran is actively preparing an attack against the US to be carried out from bases in Latin America. The documentary, "La Amenaza Irani" (" "), illustrated, though undercover footage, how the growing economic, political and military ties Iran has developed in South American countries are rapidly evolving into a tangible threat for the security of the US. The...

Eight months after radio journalist Merardo Romero’s murder in Ytakyry, in the eastern department of Alto Paraná, the alleged perpetrators are in prison but the suspected masterminds continue to enjoy complete impunity. The important political posts they hold seem to account for the murder’s limited media impact and the lack of progress in the investigation. Community radio La Voz de Ytakyry’s programme director, Romero was gunned down in his home in front of his...

“It appears that Iranian organizations provide support to other terrorist organizations" in South America, Peruvian ex-chief of staff says. The world needs to act to counter the growing presence of Iranian-supported terrorist organizations throughout South America, former chief of staff of the Peruvian Armed Forces, Gen. Francisco Contreras, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. Contreras served as the head of the Peruvian Military until about half a year ago, when he retired...