WHEREAS dozens of Latin American journalists are forced to move or emigrate because of violence, threats, and persecution by criminal groups, corrupt officials, and authoritarian governments
WHEREAS the conditions of insecurity and criminalization have led to the exile of journalists and, in more extreme cases, to the withdrawal of their nationality
WHEREAS in recent years, there has been a growing increase in the number of journalists who have to go into exile from countries such as Nicaragua, Venezuela, Guatemala, Cuba, and Ecuador or who move to other regions of their country, such as in Mexico and Colombia
WHEREAS the phenomenon also includes media outlets, particularly in Cuba, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, that are forced to continue their operations in foreign countries to evade systematic persecution
WHEREAS in Cuba, journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca was released and forced into exile after being imprisoned since 2021
WHEREAS in Ecuador, due to death threats, a journalist, whose name is withheld for security reasons, was relocated; journalists Andersson Boscán and Mónica Velásquez of the digital media La Posta left the country; and Cuban journalist Alondra Santiago left the country because the government revoked her visa
WHEREAS, in Nicaragua, photojournalist Oswaldo Rivas was forced to leave the country due to police persecution, and journalist Víctor Ticay was forced into exile after spending more than a year in prison
WHEREAS the IAPA granted Journalism in Exile the Grand Press Freedom Award 2024, its highest distinction, in tribute to Latin American colleagues and media outlets that, in circumstances of extreme risk and adversity, continue their work in defense of freedom of expression and commitment to the truth
WHEREAS as recognized in the Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression: "The exiled journalist fulfills a vital need for news of interest to the public in his or her country and around the world, is an important alternative, and possibly the only independent, source of information about events in conflict zones or where freedom of expression is severely restricted"
WHEREAS that the Declaration of Chapultepec establishes in its fourth principle that "pressures, intimidation, unjust imprisonment of journalists, material destruction of the media, violence of any kind and impunity for aggressors severely restrict freedom of expression and of the press," and affirms in its tenth principle that "no media outlet or journalist should be punished for disseminating the truth or making criticisms or denunciations of the public authorities.
THE 80TH IAPA GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLVES
To reiterate the request to governments to create human, economic, psychological, and labor support programs for journalists displaced to other regions
To request governments that host journalists to set up plans to facilitate their insertion into the labor market
To reiterate to the international community the need to express its practical support for press freedom and for journalists and media outlets to work without fear of reprisals.
