Miami (September 22, 2011)—The president of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), Gonzalo Marroquín, today stressed the importance of a speech to be given tomorrow by Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa at Columbia University in New York, which “will serve to expose the inconsistent thinking of one who claims to support freedom of the press and of expression yet whose actions are totally opposed to such freedoms”.
Correa, visiting New York for a United Nations symposium on global warming, was invited to speak at Columbia University’s World Leaders Forum on “Vulnerable Societies: Media and Democracy in Latin America,” scheduled for tomorrow (September 23).
In a letter to Columbia University’s President Lee C. Bollinger and leading academics Marroquín congratulated the university “for providing a space for the wide range of the world’s currents of thought, among them that of Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa”.
He said that while the Columbia students and academics will have “a magnificent opportunity to hear President Correa and to generate a transparent, frank and enriching dialogue”, an event with such characteristics “is not possible in Ecuador where independent journalists and news media are constantly subjected to reprisals for voicing criticism and opinions about government actions”.
In his letter Marroquín, president of the Guatemala City, Guatemala, newspaper Siglo 21, assailed the intolerance Ecuador’s government, which this week “was unmasked when a concocted court decision upheld a lower court ruling, thus sentencing three journalists from El Universo newspaper and a former columnist to three years in prison and payment of a $40 million indemnity.
He concluded his letter saying the IAPA trusted that the university’s students and academics would witness the exposure of “the inconsistent thinking of one who claims to support freedom of the press and of expression yet whose actions are totally opposed to such freedoms.
Following is the full text of the letter:
“On behalf of the more than 1,300 publications throughout the Americas that make up the membership of the Inter American Press Association I would like to congratulate you on your esteemed leadership of Columbia University and especially for providing a space for the wide range of currents of thought worldwide, among them that of Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa who will give a speech this Friday titled “Vulnerable Societies: Media and Democracy in Latin America” as part of the World Leaders Forum program.
“It will be a magnificent opportunity to hear President Correa and to generate a transparent, frank and enriching dialogue with the student body and academics; a dialogue that, with such characteristics, is not possible in Ecuador where independent journalists and news media are constantly subjected to reprisals for voicing criticism and opinions about government actions.
“As you well know, this week in Ecuador the government’s intolerance for free speech and press freedom was unmasked when a concocted court decision upheld a lower court ruling, thus sentencing three journalists from El Universo newspaper and a former columnist to three years in prison and payment of a $40 million indemnity.
“In addition to the specific case of El Universo and other multi-million-dollar lawsuits filed against journalists and writers, whom we met with during a recent visit to Ecuador, we have witnessed a serious decline in freedom of the press in general and, in particular, the harassment of those who dissent from the “official truth.” In this regard, President Correa has never admitted to the deterioration of freedom of expression in his country; rather, he justifies his actions by accusing news media and journalists of being corrupt, undemocratic and in favor of a coup d’état.
“It is our hope that Colombia University’s leaders and students understand clearly the direct and indirect attacks that President Correa and officials of his government periodically inflict upon journalists, bloggers and citizens. The attacks are manifested through legal suits; multiple forms of discrimination created by a tight grip on official information and the distribution of official advertising; favoritism in the granting of licenses; the expansion of government propaganda media, and an official line of discourse that discredits and insults the news media and their journalists.
“The evidence is conclusive. Since Correa took office as president his administration has moved increasingly distant from the principles of press freedom, free speech and the public’s right to information, as defined in international treaties and agreements to which the Ecuadorean state is a signatory.
“Gentlemen, under your academic leadership, recognized for its defense of freedom of the press and support of improved inter-American relations, we in the IAPA trust that tomorrow’s speech by President Rafael Correa will serve to expose the inconsistent thinking of one who claims to support freedom of the press and of expression yet whose actions are totally opposed to such freedoms.”
The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. For more information please go to http://www.sipiapa.org.
