Ahead of the country’s February 2013 election, Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa will appoint new judges to the Constitutional Court, a move critics say could help him consolidate control over the judicial branch and media outlets.
With Venezuela preparing for a competitive presidential election, media watchdogs warn of restrictions on press freedoms ahead of voting day.
AS/COA Online spoke to Carlos Lauría, the senior Americas program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists about press freedom in Venezuela, how media restrictions affect the presidential campaigns, and violence against journalists.
In Brasilia, Congress will decide on the “world’s first Internet bill of rights,” while in Lima, legislators could pass a bill restricting Internet freedoms.
The Andean country could leave the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights within a year, raising concerns due to the timing of the announcement a month before the presidential election.
Beginning August 2, justices will try 38 defendants accused of involvement in a massive congressional vote-buying scandal.
Over two years after disaster struck central Chile, government officials in power at the time are locked in a legal dispute over who is to blame for not issuing the proper warnings.