WHEREAS numerous journalists have been forced to move to other areas of their country or to go into exile because of violence and threats against them by criminal gangs, corrupt officials, and authoritarian governments
WHEREAS, in Bolivia, Junior Arias, owner of the DTV channel and producer of the program Detrás de la Verdad, left the country due to the threats he received
WHEREAS in Colombia, Yamir Jhan Pico, director of the digital media Caribe Noticias 24/7, was forced to leave the country along with his family after receiving threats and an attack due to his journalistic investigations
WHEREAS in Cuba, the government prohibits 13 journalists and communicators from leaving the country and restricts their mobility within the island. They are Anay Remón, Camila Acosta, Niober García, Rosalia Viñas, María del Carmen Gort, Reinaldo Escobar, Emilio Almaguer, Julio Aleaga, Henry Constantín, Jorge Fernández Era, José Gabriel Barrenechea, Alina Bárbara López and Yoandi Montiel.
WHEREAS, in Ecuador five journalists left the country due to threats: Andersson Boscán, Mónica Velázquez in July, and three others in April, August and October, respectively, whose names are being withheld; and three were relocated within the country in June and October after being intimidated
WHEREAS in Guatemala, due to judicial harassment, threats, and intimidation, the journalists, columnists, and staff of elPeriódico, Gerson Alande Ortiz, Julia Catalina Corado Flores, Christian Franquel Véliz García, Jerlin Alexander Valdez, Rony Andrés Ríos García, Denis Obdulio Aguilar González, Edgar Eduardo Gutiérrez Girón and Gonzalo Marroquín Godoy are exiled in different countries
WHEREAS, in Haiti, 12 journalists fled their homes and had to relocate to other areas because criminal gangs threatened them and set fire to their homes. They are Réginald Esaie Orélus, Richardson Jourdan, Jacques Desrosiers, Celou Flécher, Dessources Dieumaitre, Samuel Dallemand, Rubens Artist, Jean Yves Saint-Louis, Kettia Marcellus, Jacques Stevenson Saint-Louis, Judex Vélima and Arnold Junior Pierre
WHEREAS, in Nicaragua, 29 journalists left the country to avoid reprisals; journalists Marcos Medina and Kimberly León were prevented from re-entering the country, and the regime is also denying entry to the families of journalists already in exile; and communicator Kenia González Sánchez, known on Facebook as Kenya Volkanoe, was declared "non grata" and expelled from the country for defending Catholic priests on social media
WHEREAS, in Paraguay, journalist Vicente Godoy requested asylum in another country after receiving death threats
WHEREAS the Declaration of Chapultepec states that "violence of any kind and impunity for aggressors severely restrict freedom of expression and of the press."
THE 79th IAPA GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLVES
To urge national governments to create programs of human, economic, and labor support for journalists who move to other regions within their countries
To urge governments to develop insertion programs for journalists fleeing their countries, providing them with adequate humanitarian and economic assistance and working conditions, as well as to expedite the procedures for granting political asylum or special work visas
To ask the OAS, the IACHR, and other multilateral organizations to develop public policies to support the insertion of journalists and their families in their adoptive countries, as well as reinsertion policies for when the sources of violence in the countries of origin diminish.
