WHEREAS the stigmatization tends to be used as a way of delegitimizing and undermining the credibility of the press
WHEREAS in Colombia, President Gustavo Petro and public officials lash out on social media and through statements against journalists and media outlets
WHEREAS in Costa Rica, President Rodrigo Chaves called journalists "political hit men" whom he accuses of "putting and removing" ministers and presidents, and trolls on social networks raged against CRHoy
WHEREAS, in Ecuador, President Guillermo Lasso publicly lashes out at the press by saying that the press "confuses freedom of expression with debauchery"
WHEREAS in El Salvador, media and journalists are harassed on social networks and labeled as "enemies of the country" by delegitimization campaigns led by President Nayib Bukele and his government officials
WHEREAS in Honduras, there has been an increase in stigmatizing discourse against journalists and the media, mainly on social networks, by government officials and sympathizers
WHEREAS in Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador maintains his hostile discourse against the media and journalists, especially in his Wednesday conferences in which he delegitimizes his critics
WHEREAS, in Paraguay, threats and systematic attacks against the press have intensified, especially during the current electoral process
WHEREAS the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights states that stigmatization generates "a climate that prevents reasonable and pluralistic deliberation on all public issues"
WHEREAS that Article 6 of the Declaration of Chapultepec says: "The media and journalists should not be discriminated against or favored because of what they write or say."
THE IAPA MID-YEAR MEETING RESOLVES
To reiterate that stigmatization is a form of apology for violence and that, in addition to inciting violence to attack the press, it deepens the levels of intolerance, divisions, and polarization in society
To express IAPA's solidarity with journalists and media of the Americas who, despite the pressures, continue to struggle to exercise their profession in freedom
To urge the governments of the Americas to ensure that public debate is conducted with respect, tolerance, and within the freedom of expression principles.