IAPA ORGANIZES TWELFTH NATIONAL FORUM
ON THE DECLARATION OF CHAPULTEPEC
29 de noviembre de 2000 - 19:00
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Miami (November 30)
- The Inter American Press Association organized last week the National
Forum on the Declaration of Chapultepec in Brazil as part of its cycle of
national forums promoting the Declaration which contains ten fundamental
principles necessary to achieve freedom of expression and free press in
the Americas. The forum began on Tuesday, November 21, in São Paulo with a press
conference on the IAPAs mission and objectives in Brazil. Leading the press
conference was IAPA Executive Director, Julio E. Muñoz, who was joined
by IAPA Regional Vice Chairman for Brazil of the Committee on Freedom of
the Press and Information, Paulo Cabral, Correio Braziliense, Brasília;
Director of the Freedom of the Press Committee of the Brazilian Association
of Newspapers (ANJ), Deusdedith Aquino, Estado de Minas, Belo Horizonte;
and IAPA Executive Committee member, Jayme Sirotsky, Zero Hora, Porto Alegre
- each offering their views on the status of press freedom in Brazil. That evening, newspaper editors and publishers from throughout the country
were invited to a special welcome cocktail and dinner at the Hotel Crowne
Plaza São Paulo. Newspapers from the States of São Paulo,
Rio Grande do Sul, Goiânia, Minas Gerais, Maranhão, and Distrito
Federal were present. Each received a copy of the Declaration of Chapultepec
to bring to their newsrooms.
The following day, the IAPA organized a panel discussion on "Freedom
of the Press and the Declaration of Chapultepec in Brazil". The nations
leading press attorneys Manuel Alceu Affonso Ferreira, Saulo Ramos, Marcos
Antônio Campos Berraza, and Ives Gandra da Silva Martins participated
in the panel offering insight into the current status of press freedom in
Brazil. The panel was organized primarily for students of journalism. Representatives
from nine journalism programs were present during the discussion. These
include: Pontificia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, Universidade
de São Paulo, Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes, Faculdade Casper Líbero,
Universidade São Judas Tadeu, Instituto Metodista de Ensino Superiores,
Faculdade Integradas Alcântara Machado, Universidade Santa Cecília
(Santos) and Curso Intenviso de Jornalismo Aplicado - O Estado de São
Paulo.
The IAPA delegation then traveled to the nations capital were they organized
a breakfast with leading politicians many of whom signed the Declaration
of Chapultepec in support of freedom of the press in Brazil. These include:
Carlos Velloso, President of the Supreme Court; Michel Temer, President
of the House of Representatives; Antonio Carlos Magalhães, President
of the Senate; Gilberto Sabóia, National Secretary on Human Rights;
Gilmar Mendes, Attorney General; Nilson Neves, Vice President of the Supreme
Court of Justice; Senator Pedro Simon, Representative Joaquim Santos Filho,
and President of the National Federation of Journalists, Beth Costa. President
Fernando Henrique Cardoso already signed the Declaration on August 9, 1996.
The President of the Brazilian Association of Newspapers, Francisco Mesquita
Neto, in his welcoming remarks stated, "This commitment gives reinforces
the need for a deep understanding that without a free press, there is no
democracy, and then, the peoples right to information cannot persist."
He continued to state, "This work and these meetings are beneficial
in strengthening democracy on the American continent and for putting into
practice the principles of the Declaration of Chapultepec in Brazil." The National Forum ended in Rio de Janeiro on Friday, November 24, when
the IAPA delegation met with professors and students of the Journalism Program
at the School of Communications at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
While in each city, the IAPA visited major newspapers to speak to journalists
about the Declaration of Chapultepec and present them with large copies
to hang in the newsroom for their daily use. These newspapers include: O
Estado de São Paulo, Folha de S. Paulo, and Gazeta Mercantil in São
Paulo; Correio Braziliense, and Jornal de Brasília in Brasília;
and O Globo, O Dia and Jornal do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro.
In Brazil, the National Forum received organizational support from the Brazilian
Association of Newspapers (ANJ) and from the IAPA Regional Vice Chairman
for Brazil, Paulo Cabral, Correio Braziliense, Brasília. For more
information about the forum please contact Sean Casey by e-mail at [email protected].
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