Perils are increasing in Latin America for journalists. This is not quite the same as the filtering of the blogosphere in places like Pakistan and China. The Latin American version of filtering is to kidnap or outright murder the ladies and gentlemen of the media.  Press freedom may be touted in a number of countries south of the U.S., but the reality is different. And it does not appear to be improving.

The Orlando Sentinel dealt with the subject well under the apt title, “Latin America’s Press Not This Bullied In Decades.” Press freedom in the Americas hasn’t been so threatened by violent reprisals, death threats and murders as well as censorship since the heady days of the dictatorships of the 1970s.  These were also the days of the Ellsberg show, Presidential burglaries and troops shooting at students in Ohio. In the U.S. and other First World countries, the powers-that-be and the military might like to make some journalists disappear but seem to be sticking to the rules of engagement in the free world. The pen may not be mightier but they know how to keep their swords to themselves, mostly.

Down south, these threats are the result of dictatorial regimes such as the Chavez government in Venezuela. In others, like Mexico, the new President is struggling to bring some order to violent chaos. His government promises to offer more safety for journalists.

In Cuba, censorship is reaching the level of a Kafka nightmare. The freelance journalist, Oscar Sanchez Madan, has been given a four year prison sentence t on the charge of “pre-criminal dangerousness.” That nemesis island has been classified by a human rights organization as “one of the world’s biggest prisons for journalists.” It is said that some twenty-eight journalists are now in jail for simply doing their job. Some have gotten hit with sentences of up to twenty years in prison.

Mexico has raised itself from No. 3 in the world to No. 2 as the world’s most deadly country for journalists. It managed to push Columbia from that coveted spot in the repression sweepstakes. Just recently reporters for TV Azteca, a major network -Gamaliel Lopez Candanosa, and cameraman Gerardo Paredes - were among those who disappeared in the northern city of Monterrey. No word has been heard from them to date. A reporter for another major network, Televisa, was killed by gunfire.