Three journalists from TV station Canal 9 in Paraguay, and the ex-director of the National Television System, Ismael Hadid, are on trial for defamation and libel. Reporter Silvio Cuevas, host Yolanda Park, and the channel’s press director, Andrés Caballero, were sued by a lawyer, Evelio Fabio Salinas, after Cuevas in May 2010 interviewed a woman who accused the lawyer of falsifying birth certificates in order to facilitate adoptions.
The SPP (Paraguayan Union of Journalists) has condemned the recent actions of politicians in the city of Cuidad del Este. Last week Juan Pío Balbuena had his programme cancelled on Radio Corpus after the owner of the station made a ‘business deal’ with local politician Javier Zacarías Irún, in which he agreed not to criticise Zacarías’s political group. Zacarías’ wife, Sandra Mcleod, is mayor of Ciudad del Este and was recently accused of attempting to bribe another Radio Corpus journalist to favour her party on air. He refused and was later forced to resign.
Sindicato de Periodistas del Paraguay assists its associates in their working situation. It works to defend the human rights of journalists as well as provide to professional training.