John Otis

John Otis is a Colombia-based consultant for the Committee to Protect Journalists and reports for NPR and the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of the book "Law of the Jungle: The Hunt for Colombian Guerrillas, American Hostages, and Buried Treasure."

This photo of Hugo Bustíos Saavedra was taken minutes before he was killed. Daniel Urresti Elera has been on trial for his alleged role in the murder. (Caretas)

Timeline: The 35-year road to justice for murdered journalist Hugo Bustíos Saavedra

When Hugo Bustíos Saavedra was killed in 1988, Peru’s government was embroiled in conflict with leftist guerilla groups, many civil liberties had been suspended, and efforts to seek justice in the journalist’s death seemed futile. CPJ and other press freedom groups unsuccessfully tried for years to pressure Peru’s government to investigate Bustíos’ murder, including by asking…

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Peru’s Manuel Calloquispe faces threats and assaults to expose environmental damage from illegal Amazon mining

Manuel Calloquispe has had to face an angry mob laying siege to his house. He’s been called a traitor. He’s been punched and kicked by miners and had his equipment stolen. He once had to duck for cover when someone threw a machete at him. The reason: His decade reporting on the environmental havoc caused…

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‘An accumulation of lies’: Right-wing group La Resistencia stokes anti-press fervor in Peru

Journalist Gustavo Gorriti remembers the days — just a few years ago — when people on the streets of Lima approached him to congratulate him for exposing corrupt government officials, drug trafficking mafias, and human rights abusers. A few even asked him to pose for selfies. These days, though, motorists shout insults at him from…

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Cándido Figueredo, veteran border-beat reporter for Paraguay's largest newspaper, travels with armed bodyguards on the rare occasions that he leaves the safety of his home. (John Otis)

Reporting with bodyguards on the Paraguayan border

Like a riveting lede to one of his stories on cocaine smugglers and crime bosses, Paraguayan journalist Cándido Figueredo makes a dramatic first impression.

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