The International Press Institute (IPI) today strongly condemned death threats made against journalists by the mayor of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia’s largest city.

On Saturday, during a speech to mark the opening of a citywide celebration, Mayor Percy Fernández reportedly said, “I will not rest until I see Tuffi Aré (editor of El Deber newspaper) and all the rest of the journalists buried two meters underground. All journalists are cow dung. We will find a way to knock them down!”

According to Bolivian media reports, El Deber had recently published articles critical of Fernandez’s administration. However, this weekend’s incident was far from isolated: in a statement “vehemently rejecting” Fernández’s invective, the Bolivian National Association of Journalists (ANP, according to its Spanish acronym) called the mayor “the leading verbal harasser of journalists in the province of Santa Cruz over the past two years.”

Last March, Fernandez accused most of the city’s media outlets of being “liars” after the latter reproted on a hospital worker’s strike. In July, he called El Deber’s reporters “wolves in sheepskin” and has previously accused the paper of seeking to destabilise his authority. Last December, the mayor publicly taunted journalist Milton Rivero by calling Rivero a “donkey” and asking him to bray, reports said.

The ANP added that Fernandez’s public harassment of journalists has been met with “absolute impunity” despite the fact that at least three complaints had been lodged with local courts.

In 2012, IPI has recorded with alarm an increase in verbal assaults against by the media by elected officials in Latin America – ranging from mayors to presidents. Ecuadorean leader Rafael Correa has been at the forefront of this trend, frequently verbally attacking private media owners and journalists in public addresses.

Physical attacks are on the rise, too. Last week, IPI reported on a wave of threats and physical violence carried out by Argentine public officials against the country’s journalists. IPI also noted incidents in Honduras and Panama earlier this year. An IPI special investigation in February found that “autocratic regional and local authorities who view investigative reporting as a threat to their otherwise unchecked power” remains one of the biggest obstacles to media freedom in the region.

IPI Deputy Director Anthony Mills said, “These remarks by Mayor Fernández are unacceptable for someone in his position of power. Worse, they place the lives of journalists squarely in danger, promote disrespect for the profession, potentially encourage attacks against journalists and certainly induce self-censorship. This seriously threatens the people of Santa Cruz’s right to be informed about the actions of their democratically elected government.”

Mills added: “Elected officials in Latin America need to accept that their position obliges them to accept more scrutiny and greater criticism, not less.”

IPI also called on Bolivian President Evo Morales to drop plans to prosecute three Bolivian media outlets – El Diario, Página Siete, and the Catholic news agency ANF – for racial discrimination after allegedly twisting the words of a speech Morales gave on Aug. 15. In the speech, the president said, “In eastern Bolivia, where production continues year-round, I would say that only due to the lack of will can we be so poor or not have enough to heat … we can only starve because of laziness.”

Following the address, ANF ran a story headlined “Evo says if there is starvation in the east it’s because of laziness.” The piece was later picked up by El Diario and Página Siete, which produced similar titles.

In announcing the planned charges, the government accused the three media outlets of inflaming relations and instilling hatred between eastern and western Bolivians. The Inter-American Press Assosication (IAPA) last week called the prosecution “an example of intolerance and a negative precedent that appears to have the intention of censuring and promoting self-censorship in the press.”

During his time in power, Morales has evinced conflicting attitudes toward the press. Earlier this year, the president dropped planned changes to the country’s press law that had been opposed by media representatives, but has adopted a generally hostile attitude toward reports critical of his adminisration.

During Morales’ visit to Vienna, Austria in March 2012, IPI urged the Andean leader to respect the rights and duties of journalists.