Miami (November 16, 2023) - The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) will dedicate special attention to cases of exiled and displaced journalists in the Americas due to "violence and threats from criminal gangs, corrupt officials, and authoritarian governments."
At the end of its 79th General Assembly in Mexico City, the IAPA approved a resolution on Displaced and Exiled Journalists, describing that journalists from Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Paraguay, among others, "have been forced to move to other areas of their country or go into exile."
In his inaugural speech as president of the IAPA, Roberto Rock, director of La Silla Rota portal, Mexico, expressed that the organization will give "greater attention to journalism that continues to thrive in nations under dictatorships or hostile regimes. That which is carried out from exile."
The IAPA committed to promoting the creation of support programs for journalists who are displaced to other regions within their countries and will request governments that host those fleeing their places of origin to provide the necessary assistance for the humanitarian, economic, labor, and migratory integration of the affected individuals.
In this regard, Rock announced the creation of the Exile Journalism Subcommittee, which will be chaired by Juan Lorenzo Holmann, general manager of La Prensa newspaper in Nicaragua, who will have the support of Miguel Henrique Otero, director of El Nacional in Venezuela, as vice president.
Holmann was imprisoned for over a year, then expelled and banished from his country. Otero is also in exile after the takeover of his newspaper's facilities to avoid his detention.
The Subcommittee's tasks will include planning an international conference on journalism in exile, likely to be held in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Check here for country reports, resolutions, and meeting conclusions.
IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.
