Panama

PANAMA WHEREAS in 1970 the military dictatorship took away the independence of La Estrella de Panama, imposing Altamirano Duque as publisher since that time, La Estrella de Panama, under Duque's leadership, had been the official organ of the ruling PRD political party during the first few months of this year, the board of directors of La Estrella de Panama's publishing company decided to dismiss Altamirano Duque as publisher, declaring the post to be incompatible with his position as Panama's first vice president and with the newspaper's intention to regain its editorial and reporting independence the president of Panama, Dr. Ernesto Perez Balladares decided to punish the newspaper financially by withdrawing all official advertising, canceling its contract for printing the Official Gazette and delaying government payments due to the newspaper the Panamanian government's behavior toward La Estrella de Panama constitutes a flagrant violation of press freedom and free of expression, which are the foundation of true democracy THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to condemn the situation encountered by La Estrella de Panama, one of the oldest newspapers in the Americas, and to declare that while the present situation continues, Panama cannot be included in the list of countries in which complete press freedom exists to send a mission to Panama to convey to the president the IAPA's deep concern about discrimination in the distribution of official advertising.