US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Tuesday criticized efforts to suppress press freedom in several Latin American countries, saying the US is trying to increase media protection in the region with more journalists murdering.
At the press freedom event ahead of the Americas Summit, a regional meeting aimed at addressing economic and immigration issues, Blinken said governments in the region are using extensive laws and surveillance to undermine press freedom and intimidate journalists.
He chose the three countries that President Joe Biden excluded from the Americas Summit because they were undemocratic and said that the act of independent journalism was a crime in these countries.
“No region in the world is more dangerous for journalists,” said Blinken, referring to UNESCO’s observatory where journalists were killed, adding that at least 17 media workers were killed in the Western Hemisphere this year.
Last weekend, British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian native Bruno Pereira disappeared while covering a remote part of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest near the Peruvian border.
Criticizing El Salvador, Blinken said, “Such crimes continue (in part) because those who order and execute them are rarely held accountable. This sends a message that these attacks can go unpunished.”
source: Noticias
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