Mexican telecoms reforms are forcing the break-up of billionaire Carlos Slim's America Movil empire, Latin America's biggest telecoms company. Mr Slim, one of the world's richest men, says he will bring America Movil's market share below 50%. Its Telmex fixed line subsidiary has 80% of the Mexican market and its mobile Telcel operation 70%. The reforms would make America Movil in its present form a dominant player, subject to strict new rules. They would include being forced to share...

Reporters Without Borders calls for more protection for the staff of Contralínea, a Mexico City-based independent magazine whose offices were broken into and ransacked on the night of 23 June, two months after a break-in at the home if its editor, Miguel Badillo. Before removing computer equipment and files from Contralínea’s offices, the unidentified burglars cut the cables of the surveillance cameras that the Mexico City prosecutor’s office installed in 2012 under...

The senate has just approved the “ ” that President Enrique Peña Nieto’s government proposed on 24 March. Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by the speed with which the bill is being adopted because some of its articles threaten freedom of information. The bill provides for content surveillance, the right to block telecommunication services, prior censorship of news and information that could endanger national security, and an unequal distribution of licences...

US Senate majority leader Harry Reid expressed his support for a bill seeking sanctions on Venezuelan officials held accountable of human rights violations during anti-government protests earlier this year in Venezuela. The official commented that he thought that a change in the leadership of the Venezuelan government would improve Venezuela-US relations, but said that would not be possible given the fact President Nicolás Maduro lacked the skills of his predecessor (Hugo...

HIDALGO, Tex. - Border agents drove their patrol vehicles one recent day at dusk through this spit of land on the bank of the Rio Grande. Here, in a place known as the Devil’s Corner, smugglers on the Mexican side have chosen to bring thousands of women and children to American soil. After only a few minutes scouting the dirt roads, the agents came upon a cluster of illegal migrants, huddled in tall grass under palm trees, seeking respite from the baking heat. They made no effort to...

Last year, the supporters of Mexico's conservative National Action Party created the Mexican Nationalist Movement of Labor, a neo-Nazi group with the intention to "protect traditional families, the Catholic-Christian religion, and relive the history of the Nazi doctrine." The group, which considers itself to be a political alternative to the 'Zionist capitalism,' argues that democracy has the interest of few in mind. First created in Jalisco last November, the is headed by Juan...

In a ceremony with journalists, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced on Friday a revision of and a reshuffle in the Venezuelan government. "It is time to go to the next level; a new level of construction," the president noted. "We are shaking all the mechanisms of the government to enter a truly efficient stage," said Maduro. The revision and reshuffle would take place in the first half of July, and will include all ministers and the goals of the...

Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed on Monday at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) its deep concerns over the serious human rights situation in Venezuela, describing it as "the most alarming" the country has gone through in years. The non-governmental organization said that after an anti-government protest held on February 12, 2014, law enforcement officers have hit people brutally, used firearms, pellets, and tear gas disproportionately against unarmed demonstrators. ...

Officers used tear gas on crowds in Sao Paulo hours before Brazil's team beat Croatia 3-1 in the opening match. Several people were also injured after scuffles broke out in Rio de Janeiro. Protesters are angry at how much the government has spent on preparations for the World Cup and the Olympics, which Rio will host in 2016. Earlier, striking airport workers in Rio de Janeiro blocked a road outside the airport, demanding a wage increase and a World Cup bonus. The strike was to have lasted...

Ecuador’s National Assembly passed a sweeping Organic Law on Communication. One year later, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) is deeply concerned about the state of information freedom in the country. Initially, the law was seen as a means of . The law establishes a new regulatory framework. In addition, the statute attempts to define the craft of providing news. Our organization opposes that effort. The law does include several . But the government has not provided specific ways to...