Miami (February 1) - Last week, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) organized its sixth, seventh and eighth National Forums on the Declaration of Chapultepec in Haiti, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. These forums helped raise public awareness of the importance of freedom of expression using the Declaration of Chapultepec as a tool to eliminate legal restrictions to the media in these Caribbean nations.
On January 24, an IAPA delegation arrived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and conducted a press conference with local journalists, and later that day, a meeting with media leaders in newspaper, radio and television. The following day, the delegation met in the National Palace with Haitian President Rene Garcia Préval who had committed to signing the Declaration of Chapultepec. However, during the meeting, Préval refused to sign the Declaration.
IAPA President Tony Pederson issued the following statement regarding the matter:
The Inter American
Press Association is very disappointed that President René
Préval did not sign the Declaration of Chapultepec. He clearly
changed his mind because we had a clear agreement in writing and
conversation that he was to sign and an IAPA delegation came to
Haiti specifically for his signing. The Haitian press is enjoying
perhaps its highest level of press freedom and we would hope that
would continue, but by not signing the Declaration of Chapultepec,
President Préval indicated that his commitment to a free
press may be less complete.
On Tuesday, January 25, the IAPA delegation traveled to San Juan,
Puerto Rico where they held a press conference and attended a dinner
with the key figures on press freedom legislation. On the following
day, the IAPA organized a public forum where nearly 300 people showed
up at the Sacred Heart University to participate in the panel entitled,
"Freedom of the Press in Puerto Rico and the Declaration of
Chapultepec." While in Puerto Rico, the IAPA delegation visited
the newsrooms of El Nuevo Día and Primera Hora, as well as
gave a presentation at the University of Puerto Ricos School of
Communications.
The next National Forum on the Declaration of Chapultepec took place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on January 27-28. Here, the IAPA delegation held an open forum at the local Catholic University, visited the newsrooms of the local newspapers, and met with the important leaders on press freedom issues in the country.
Perhaps the highlight of the forum in the Dominican Republic was the wide range of support by public officials of the Declaration. On Friday, January 28, President Leonel Fernández Reyna became the 21st Head-of-State to sign the Declaration of Chapultepec. During a signing ceremony in the National Palace, President Fernandez stated that he would implement a special decree to create a committee that would examine those laws that restrict press freedom in the Dominican Republic. Also signing were the President of the Senate, Vice President of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Electoral College. A special visit was also made to the residence of Joaquín Balaguer, 93-year old former President of the Republic and presidential candidate in the upcoming elections, who agreed to support the Declaration of Chapultepec.
While in the Dominican Republic, the IAPA delegation paid a special homage to the tomb of former IAPA President Germán Ornes, editor of El Caribe newspaper. Ornes was an ardent fighter for press freedom and struggled against the Trujillo dictatorship.
The delegation was comprised of IAPA President Tony Pederson, Houston Chronicle, Houston, Texas; former IAPA President Jorge Fascetto, El Día, La Plata, Argentina; Chairman of the Chapultepec Committee Alejandro Miró Quesada C., El Comercio, Lima Peru; Julio E. Muñoz, IAPA Executive Director; Jairo Lanao, Chapultepec Project Attorney; and Sean Casey, Chapultepec Project Administrator
The three national forums were made possible thanks to the support of Max Chauvet, editor of Le Nouvelliste newspaper in Haiti; Luis Alberto Ferré-Rangel, El Nuevo Día, and IAPA Regional Vice Chairman for Puerto Rico of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information; Center for Freedom of the Press in Puerto Rico; Sacred Heart University in Santurce, Puerto Rico; Rafael Molina Morillo, Listín Diario, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and Chairman of the IAPA Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information; Ruddy Gonzalez, Ultimas Notícias, IAPA Regional Vice Chairman for the Dominican Republic and Haiti of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information; as well as all IAPA member newspapers in the Dominican Republic.
The ninth National Forum on the Declaration of Chapultepec is tentatively scheduled in Brazil in May 2000. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.sipiapa.org.
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