We issued the following statement today after Ecuadoran authorities took critical private broadcaster Teleamazonas off the air for three days on Tuesday. In a story aired in May, Teleamazonas reported that natural gas exploitation on Puná Island could force the suspension of fishing for six months…
On May 5, 2009, Milton Nelson Chacaguasay Flores, director and editor of the weekly publication La Verdad in the city of Machala, was released on parole after serving six months in prison on libel charges. Chacaguasay told CPJ that on June 8, 2009, he was again charged with slander and sentenced to four months in…
New York, June 4, 2009–The opening of two government investigations into private television network Teleamazonas and threats of legal action by Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa against critical media outlets are an attempt by the government to stifle dissent, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
A July government takeover of almost 200 businesses, including two private television stations that drew nearly 40 percent of the country’s news audience, enabled leftist President Rafael Correa to further his political agenda and gain greater control of the media. After the move, Correa won a decisive victory in a referendum on a new constitution…