MIAMI, Florida (January 11, 2017)—An international delegation of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) is to hold a two-day visit to Washington, DC, with the objective of dealing with issues of press freedom in the United States, Venezuela, Cuba, Panama and Ecuador, and cases of murder of journalists in Mexico and other Latin American countries.
The IAPA representatives will spend January 12 and 13 in the U.S. capital. They will be holding meetings with Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS); Edison Lanza, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IACHR); members of Congress and officials of President-Elect Donald Trump's transition team.
Also scheduled are meetings with local entities to take up matters of cyber security and with representatives of the Latin American diplomatic corps to speak about activities linked to freedom of expression and of the press. The delegation will thus be following up missions to Washington in 2015 and 2016 to the U.S. government regarding issues of news transparency and other matters concerning the Inter-American Human Rights System, and meeting with international financial aid agencies.
The delegation will be headed by IAPA President Matt Sanders, senior editor and general manager of Deseret Digital Media, Salt Lake City, Utah, who will be accompanied by Roberto Rock, chairman of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information and editor of La Silla Rota, Mexico City, Mexico; Eduardo Quirós, vice chairman for Panama and editor of La Estrella de Panamá, Panama City, Panama; Miguel Henrique Otero, regional vice chairman for Venezuela of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information and editor of El Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela; Antonieta Jurado de Otero, director of Atodomomento.com, Caracas, Venezuela, and Ricardo Trotti, IAPA Executive Director, Miami, Florida.
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 publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida.
