By José Barbeito/ CPJ Americas Research Associate

Judge Raúl Rosales Mora and his gun. (Caretas)

Caretas, the leading newsweekly magazine in Perú, has a shocking photograph on its February 18 cover: a local judge aiming a gun at one of the publication's reporters. Photojournalist Carlos Saavedra was on a stakeout trying to photograph Judge Raúl Rosales Mora when the incident occurred on February 13, according to CPJ interviews and local news reports.  

The magazine was working on a story about a controversial decision by Rosales, who had recently favored the appointment of a polemical judge to the country's Constitutional Tribunal, the Peruvian press reported.

Five days after mudslides crippled roads and rail access near the Machu Picchu ruins in the mountains of southern Peru, more than 1,000 people had been evacuated by helicopter, but hundreds more remained stranded and faced food and water shortages. Machu Picchu, one of the unofficial wonders of the world was built in the mid-15th century by the Inca Civilization. It sits nearly 8,000 feet above sea level and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Latin America. Visitors must take a train to Aguas Calientes (warm springs) and then reach the site by hiking or by taking a bus or helicopter.

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