{
  "title": "Ladder: detention and violence, in South America",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/detention_and_violence?continent=south-america",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "south-america"
  },
  "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.",
  "tactic": {
    "slug": "detention_and_violence",
    "name": "Detention and violence",
    "definition": "Arrest, detention, prosecution, imprisonment, physical harm or killing of journalists, where police, soldiers, officials or others acting for a government carried out, ordered or authorised the act. Harm by private people is recorded only when a government actor was involved.",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/detention_and_violence"
  },
  "focal_case": "US",
  "count": 3,
  "stages": [
    {
      "stage": "punish",
      "name": "Punish",
      "definition": "Legal or physical action against individual journalists or sources: subpoenas and record seizures, prosecutions, arrests, detention, expulsions, visa denials, assault where a government actor is involved.",
      "rungs": [
        {
          "slug": "2024-venezuela-post-election-press-crackdown",
          "title": "Venezuela detains, expels and restricts journalists after disputed 2024 election",
          "occurred_on": "2024-07-28",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "punish",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "VE",
          "country_name": "Venezuela",
          "continent": "south-america",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 159,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 159th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "nicolas-maduro",
          "leader_name": "Nicolas Maduro",
          "what_was_done": "In the two weeks after Venezuela's disputed July 28, 2024 presidential election, Reporters Without Borders documented 70 press-freedom violations, including nine detentions, nine expulsions of foreign correspondents and the suspension of the social media platform X, as President Nicolas Maduro's go…",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": null,
          "outcome_note": "Detained journalists faced continuing prosecution, and social-platform restrictions remained in place after the documented period.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence",
          "tactics": [
            "detention_and_violence",
            "expulsion_and_visa_denial",
            "shutdowns_and_blocking"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-venezuela-post-election-press-crackdown"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "stage": "silence",
      "name": "Silence",
      "definition": "Removing outlets or channels from the public sphere: closures, licence withdrawals, forced sales, blocking and shutdowns, prior restraint, nationalisation.",
      "rungs": [
        {
          "slug": "1973-chile-coup-press-shutdown",
          "title": "Chile's military government shuts opposition radio stations and newspapers after the 1973 coup",
          "occurred_on": "1973-09-11",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "silence",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "CL",
          "country_name": "Chile",
          "continent": "south-america",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 70,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 70th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "augusto-pinochet",
          "leader_name": "Augusto Pinochet",
          "what_was_done": "On the day of the September 11, 1973 military coup that overthrew President Salvador Allende, Chile's armed forces bombed and shut down radio stations that opposed the takeover, arrested journalists and closed newspapers aligned with the ousted government, under the military junta led by Augusto Pi…",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": "1990-03-01",
          "outcome_note": "Press restrictions continued under military rule until Chile's return to civilian government in March 1990, after Pinochet lost a 1988 plebiscite on his continued rule.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
          "tactics": [
            "detention_and_violence",
            "shutdowns_and_blocking"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1973-chile-coup-press-shutdown"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "stage": "eliminate",
      "name": "Eliminate",
      "definition": "Long imprisonment, killing, disappearance or forced exile of journalists, with state involvement as the sources state it.",
      "rungs": [
        {
          "slug": "1976-argentina-junta-press-decrees",
          "title": "Argentina's military junta threatens journalists with prison for reporting on its opponents",
          "occurred_on": "1976-03-24",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "eliminate",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "AR",
          "country_name": "Argentina",
          "continent": "south-america",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 98,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 98th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "jorge-videla",
          "leader_name": "Jorge Rafael Videla",
          "what_was_done": "Hours after seizing power on March 24, 1976, Argentina's military junta, led by General Jorge Videla, issued Communiqué No. 19, threatening up to 10 years in prison for reporting favorable to groups it called subversive.",
          "outcome": "reversed",
          "outcome_on": "1983-12-10",
          "outcome_note": "Argentina returned to civilian, elected government under President Raúl Alfonsín in December 1983, ending the junta's press decrees.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence",
          "tactics": [
            "detention_and_violence",
            "prior_restraint"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1976-argentina-junta-press-decrees"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
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    "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/detention_and_violence.json?continent=south-america",
    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/detention_and_violence.md?continent=south-america"
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}