Anthony Blinken warns of persisting threats to press freedom in the Americas
June 8, 2022, 2:38 pm

Anthony Blinken warns of persisting threats to press freedom in the Americas

Antony Blinken, the 71st US Secretary of State serving under the leadership of President Joe Biden - Official Twitter account

The Anews reported, citing Reuters, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Tuesday (June 7) criticized efforts to suppress press freedom in several Latin American countries and said the United States seeks to increase media protection in the region with the most murders of journalists.

Speaking at a press freedom event ahead of the Summit of the Americas, a regional gathering aiming to address economic problems and migration, Blinken said governments in the region were using sweeping legislation and surveillance to quash freedom of press and intimidate journalists.

He has singled out Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, the three countries President Joe Biden excluded from the Summit of Americas because they were not democratic, saying the act of independent journalism constituted a crime there.

"No region in the world is more dangerous for journalists," Blinken said, adding that at least 17 media workers have been killed this year in the Western Hemisphere, citing the UNESCO observatory for killed journalists.

Last weekend, British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira went missing in Brazil while reporting in a remote and lawless part of the Amazon rainforest near the border with Peru.

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Blinken said: "Crimes like these persist in no small part because the people who order them and carry them out are so rarely held accountable. That sends a message that these attacks can continue with impunity."

He also criticized El Salvador. Blinken said: "Governments are using sweeping legislation to quash free expression, as we saw in the recent slate of amendments adopted by El Salvador in March and April of this year."

Source: aa

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
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