CPJ Blog

Press Freedom News and Views

Carlos Lauría

CPJ Senior Americas Program Coordinator Carlos Lauría, a native of Buenos Aires, is a widely published journalist who has written extensively for Noticias, the world’s largest Spanish-language newsmagazine. Follow him on Facebook @ CPJ en Español.

2010

Blog | Argentina

Argentine government feud with Clarín deepens

By Carlos Lauría/CPJ Americas Senior Program Coordinator
Clarín, seen here, is locked in a media war with Argentina's president. (AP)
A grave accusation by the administration of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner against Argentina's two leading newspapers, Clarín and La Nación, has prompted claims that the government is attempting to control the press, and stirred up a heated debate on the state of freedom of expression in the country. The administration is alleging that the papers colluded with a military regime more than three decades ago to force the sale of a newsprint supplier.

On Tuesday, Kirchner presented the findings of a government report titled "Papel Prensa: The Truth," a 400-page investigation on the history and economic activities of the newsprint manufacturer, according to local and international news reports. 
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August 27, 2010 1:31 PM ET |
Blog | Venezuela

Venezuelan censorship over morgue photos is selective

By Carlos Lauría/Americas Senior Program Coordinator
An El Nacional journalist holds a sign that reads "Don´t let anybody silence you" during a protest at the paper's newsroom in Caracas on August 18. (AP/Fernando Llano)A controversial ruling by a Venezuelan court banning print media from publishing images of violence was partially reversed on Thursday following an international outcry from media, rights groups, and United Nations and Organization of American States officials.
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August 20, 2010 4:10 PM ET |
Blog | Honduras

In Honduran murders, a flawed government response

By Carlos Lauría/CPJ Senior Program Coordinator
Authorities did this graveside autopsy in the Nahúm Palacios murder--three months after the slaying. (CPJ)

In a letter to the editor published Sunday in The New York Times, Honduran minister on human rights Ana Pineda took issue with the findings of CPJ's recent special report on the murders of seven local reporters this year. Our report, which the Times detailed in a July 27 story, found a pattern of botched and negligent investigative work by Honduran authorities, which has fostered a climate of impunity in attacks on the press. In her letter, Pineda asserted that "all cases have been fully investigated," but her claim appears to be flawed.

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August 13, 2010 5:11 PM ET | | Comments (1)
Blog | El Salvador, Mexico

President Calderón responds to CPJ’s concerns

By Carlos Lauría/Americas Senior Program Coordinator

On June 7, we wrote to Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa about a series of attacks perpetrated against local journalists by federal law enforcement since the beginning of the year. The office of the Mexican president responded on June 16. 

In a letter to CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon, Calderón informed us that our letter was submitted to the attorney general’s office and the Mexican Ministry of Interior so the issue can be addressed as “soon as possible.”

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July 1, 2010 5:40 PM ET |
Blog | Mexico

Baja California governor urges support of federalization

By Carlos Lauría/Americas Senior Program Coordinator
Four Mexican journalists have been killed so far this year, at least one in reprisal for his work, and several remain missing after a lethal wave of violence in the border city of Reynosa in late February. Pervasive self-censorship is affecting vast regions of the country as a result of the bloody battle for turf between powerful criminal organizations. It is a crisis of national and international implications that requires a strong and decisive response from the government of President Felipe Calderón.
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June 16, 2010 5:35 PM ET |
Blog | Colombia

Colombian government tells CPJ it 'rejects' illegal spying

By Carlos Lauría/Americas Senior Program Coordinator
Left to right: Morales, Ronderos, Lauría, Gomez (Mauricio Esguerra)

Shortly after arriving in Bogotá to launch Attacks on the Press, I realized the Colombian government was well aware of our concerns about illegal espionage against the media. Top government officials, including President Alvaro Uribe Vélez, had confirmed meetings with a delegation from CPJ and the local press freedom group Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP) to discuss the findings of our annual report on the government's interception of phone conversations and e-mails (including some involving CPJ) and its surveillance of Colombian journalists.

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February 16, 2010 6:19 PM ET |
Blog | Venezuela

'Suddenly,' Chávez is on the radio (yet again)

By Carlos Lauría/Americas senior program coordinator
President Chavez takes to the air, again. (Reuters)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Frías has used cadenas—nationwide radio and television addresses that preempt programming on all stations—to challenge the private media’s news coverage and amplify the government’s voice. In his radio and TV call-in program, “Aló, Presidente” (Hello, President), Chávez often lambastes critics in the media and the political opposition.

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February 10, 2010 11:37 AM ET | | Comments (1)
Blog | Argentina

Tomás Eloy Martínez, passionate press freedom advocate

By Carlos Lauría/Americas Senior Program Coordinator
Martínez (Reuters)

Argentine writer and journalist Tomás Eloy Martínez, who died on Monday after a long battle with cancer, was ranked among Latin America’s most prominent intellectuals. Best known for his novels about former President Juan Domingo Perón and his wife Eva, Martínez cared deeply about press freedom and was a passionate advocate who helped scores of Argentine reporters, and was actively involved in CPJ’s efforts to campaign on behalf on Cuban imprisoned journalists.

Martínez understood the difficulties journalists face while working on dangerous assignments or under repressive regimes. In 1975, he was forced to flee Argentina after serious threats from a right-wing paramilitary group. He lived in exile during the dictatorship era, and returned briefly to the country after democracy was restored in 1983.

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February 4, 2010 6:07 PM ET | | Comments (1)
Blog | Haiti

Haitian media casualties, damages mount

By Carlos Lauría/Americas Senior Program Coordinator
Working in an atmosphere of great confusion and grief, our sources in Haiti are compiling preliminary lists of media casualties, documenting damages to news facilities, and examining the challenges ahead. SOS Journalistes, a press advocacy group led by the prominent Haitian journalist Guyler Delva, reports that at least 11 journalists died in the January 12 earthquake outside Port-au-Prince. CPJ continues to investigate their identities and the circumstances in which they died.

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January 26, 2010 4:34 PM ET | | Comments (2)
Blog | Nicaragua

Sale of private broadcaster sparks concerns in Nicaragua

By Carlos Lauría/Americas Senior Program Coordinator
CPJ

The sale of private television station Telenica Channel 8, one of Nicaragua’s most popular broadcasters, has sparked immediate controversy. Carlos Briceño, left, who previously owned the station, recently confirmed that he had sold the station but said that a confidential contract has forbid him from revealing the name of the buyers or the figures of the transaction. Local news reports have alleged that the buyers were family members of President Daniel Ortega.

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January 21, 2010 3:14 PM ET | | Comments (1)
Blog | Haiti

Haitian journalist describes scenes of death and destruction

By Carlos Lauría/Americas Senior Program Coordinator
At 5 p.m. on Tuesday, prominent Haitian journalist Joseph Guyler Delva, 43, was driving his car on the streets of Port-au-Prince. Delva, the country’s leading press freedom advocate, was on his way to pick-up his 7-year-old daughter from school when he heard a loud bang. “I thought I was hit by a truck,” he said. After few moments, he realized it was not a collision. The earth shook beneath him, buildings collapsed in front of him, and in a minute, a great wall of dust fully covered the capital.

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January 15, 2010 2:15 PM ET |

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