The program begins with the Declaration of Chapultepec, which takes its name from the site of the conference where was drafted and adopted in March 1994.

The development program has had various phases: awareness about the Declaration and its principles through a campaign of national forums, workshops in newsrooms, VIP signing ceremonies (1996-2001); contact with the judicial branches to establish case laws in order to strengthen freedom of expression and of the press; and the promotion of laws on access to information in national legislations.
The Declaration has been signed so far by 78 countries officials, such as presidents, prime ministers, heads of government, former presidents, presidential candidates, mayors, congressmen, supreme courts magistrates, as well as journalists, civic leaders and politicians, international organizations and citizens in general.
The text of the Declaration of Chapultepec was the basis of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression, a document of the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights of the OAS adopted in 2001.
Current efforts focus in expanding the influence of the Declaration on youth, students of journalism and more newsrooms in order to strengthen their capacity to identify violations of freedom of expression in their communities. For this purpose the IAPA have held webinars to explain and discuss the principles of the Declaration.
As part of the main activities of the Program, the IAPA has organized international conferences of supreme court judges, legislators, lawyers, academics and students in collaboration with the U.S. and Latin American universities to stand out in front of students, teachers and journalists the essence of the Declaration of Chapultepec and its importance today.
The program was launched with financial support from the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation. It is currently sponsored in part by The McClatchy Foundation Fund in San Francisco and IAPApartners. 

Chapultepec Committee

 2015 – 2016

Chairman

José Roberto Dutriz, La Prensa Gráfica, San Salvador, El Salvador

Vice Chairman

Roberto Pombo, El Tiempo, Bogotá, Colombia 

 

 

Special Advisor

Susan McClatchyThe McClatchy Company, Sacramento, California, USA

Members:

Luis Agois

Grupo Epensa, Lima, Peru

Asdrúbal Aguiar

El Impulso, Barquisimeto, Venezuela

Luis Miguel de Bedout

El Colombiano, Medellín, Colombia

Claudia Benavente

La Razón, La Paz, Bolivia 

Armando Castilla

Vanguardia, Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico 

Jose E. Colmenares

La Opinión, Cúcuta, Colombia 

Juan Fernando Healy

El Imparcial, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico

Norberto Frigerio

La Nación, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Taís Gasparian

Folha de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

David Hume

Mediamericas, Virginia, USA

Oswaldo Muñoz

El Venezolano, Caracas, Venezuela

Temi de Obaldía

TVN Media, Panama City, Panama

Ricardo Pedreira

Associação Nacional de Jornais (ANJ), Brasilia, Brazil

Gonzalo Peltzer

El Territorio, Posadas, Misiones, Argentina

Patricia Pineda

Panorama, Maracaibo, Venezuela

Gilberto Urdaneta

El Regional de Zulia, Ciudad Ojeda, Venezuela