private sector
Thursday 28.4.2022 Venezuela - Latest Developments -
Venezuela: censorship of independent media online and detention of elderly woman for satirical video
On 20th March 2022, military agents killed four Yanomami people in the Parima B sector of Alto Orinoco, Amazonas state. Three other Indigenous people, including a teenager and two military staff, were wounded amid a “confrontation.” Read more | Read in Spanish
Tuesday 26.4.2022 Brazil - Latest Developments -
Brazil: shocking violence on HRDs and journalists continues
On 10th February 2022, nine-year-old Jonatas de Oliveira dos Santos was shot and killed in an attack in Engenho Roncadorzinho, a community in the town of Barreiros, Pernambuco state. According to the local police, the boy was killed in retaliation against his father, Geovane da Silva Santos, a community leader and president of the local smallholder farmers’ association. Read more
Tuesday 19.4.2022 United States of America - Latest Developments -
USA: Amazon workers vote for unionisation; courts hold police liable for excessive force
On 19th February 2022, one person was killed and five wounded in Portland at a march to protest police violence. The woman killed was a long-time activist involved in racial justice protests and LGBTQIA+ organising. Read more
Friday 1.4.2022 Mexico - Latest Developments -
Mexico: governing party introduces bill restricting civil society work
A bill being considered in the Chamber of Deputies would restrict the work of civil society groups by prohibiting organisations from trying to influence or change laws through lobbying or strategic litigation if they receive funding from foreign sources. Read more | Read in Spanish
Wednesday 30.3.2022 Chile - Latest Developments -
Chile: same-sex marriage legalised; Gabriel Boric sworn in as President
On 11th March 2022, Gabriel Boric of Social Convergence was sworn in, becoming Chile’s youngest ever president. Boric is a former student union leader who had a key role in 2011 mass protests for free public education. Read more | Read in Spanish
Tuesday 22.2.2022 Panama - Latest Developments -
Panamanian journalists warn of threats against freedom of expression
On 20th December 2022, Panamanian journalists warned that freedom of expression in the country was under threat. The director of Consejo Nacional de Periodismo (National Journalism Council - CNP), Guillermo Adames, said in a press conference that Panamanian institutions have silenced public opinion by allowing authorities to persecute, intimidate and threaten not only journalists but also people in general for exercising their right of freedom of speech. Read more
Wednesday 2.2.2022 El Salvador - Latest Developments -
Spyware found on devices of 35 journalists and civil society activists in El Salvador
On 12th January 2022, a joint investigation by civil society groups Access Now, Front Line Defenders, The Citizen Lab, Amnesty International, Fundación Acceso, and SocialTIC showed that NSO Group’s Pegasus technology was used in El Salvador for the surveillance of journalists and civil society. Pegasus spyware was discovered on mobile phones belonging to at least 30 journalists in the country, 23 of whom worked with news outlet El Faro. Read more | Read in Spanish
Thursday 25.11.2021 United States of America - Latest Developments -
USA: Frustration over power outages drives thousands to protest in Puerto Rico
On 15th October 2021, about 4,000 people marched in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to protest the island’s recurrent power blackouts. Many criticised power company Luma for failing to provide adequate electricity to residents and demanded its ouster. Read more
Monday 22.11.2021 Mexico - Latest Developments -
New tax rules impact civil society in Mexico
On 27th October 2021, Indigenous forest defender Irma Galindo Barrios went missing, reportedly after attending a protest in Mexico City. According to IM-Defensoras, she was meant to attend a conference of the Mechanism to Protect Human Rights Defenders and Journalists in the capital, but never arrived. Read more
Thursday 18.11.2021 Guatemala - Latest Developments -
Guatemala: Siege in municipality to prevent anti-mining protests by Indigenous groups
On 12th October 2021, hundreds of people marched in Guatemala City to denounce racism and discrimination against Indigenous peoples, as part of a Day of Indigenous People’s Dignity and Resistance. Several countries in the Americas hold commemorative holidays on the date, marking Christopher Columbus’ arrival on the continent in the 15th century. Read more | Read in Spanish
