Miami (July 17, 2015) – The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), through its Executive Committee gathered yesterday here in Miami, announced new activities to be conducted in Guatemala, Ecuador and the United States for the promotion and defense of freedom of the press in the Americas.
The meeting which was held for the purpose of assessing the internal and strategic affairs of the organization, and was led by its Executive Committee Chairman, Jorge Canahuati, OPSA, Honduras and presided by the IAPA’s current president, Gustavo Mohme, La República, Perú, also served as the backdrop to honor Mr. Horacio Aguirre, former president of the association and former editor of Miami-based Diario Las Américas.
Among the various items on the agenda, the Executive Committee reviewed preparations been made for the IAPA’s next General Assembly to be held in Charleston, South Carolina, from October 2nd. through the 6th of this year; also the offering of digital transformation workshops derived from the SipConnect conference held in Miami a few weeks ago; as well as the announcement of the highly anticipated seminar for popular newspapers to be held this coming September in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The work performed by the jury of the Awards Committee was also approved and award recipients will be announced next week.
On the specific issue of promotion and defense of freedom of the press, the following activities were announced:
August 6th in Guatemala: Forum on the Chapultepec Declaration to be convened just one month before the general elections in that country. All 14 presidential candidates have been invited to discuss their respective positions regarding freedom of expression and of the press, if elected to office. The candidates will be asked to sign the Declaration of Chapultepec.
August 25 in Quito, Ecuador: Forum “Freedom of expression for everyone,” in conjunction with the Ecuadorean Association of Newspaper Publishers and the Fundamedios organization. The IAPA has invited national and international institutions that champion human rights and advocate press freedom. The purpose of this forum is to engage in the discussion of an action plan that shall ultimately be reflected in a document entitled “The Quito Commitment.” Certain measures will be adopted in order to more effectively denounce and counteract the pernicious effects of the Communications Law on the right of all Ecuadoreans to receive and disseminate information.
July 29th or 30th in Washington, DC: An international mission from the IAPA will participate in a special hearing on press freedom in the Americas before the House Sub-Committee on Hemispheric Affairs of the United States Congress.
The IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression throughout the Americas. It is comprised of more than 1,300 publications from the Western Hemisphere; and its main offices are located in Miami, Florida, USA; for further information, please visit us at http://www.sipiapa.org
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