Credit: IDL-Reporteros
Miami (September 10, 2025) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) strongly condemns the threats made by Lima Mayor Rafael López Aliaga against journalist Gustavo Gorriti, director of IDL-Reporteros. During a public event, López Aliaga labeled Gorriti an “enemy of Peru” and declared that “he must be gotten rid of once and for all.” These statements place Gorriti’s personal safety at risk and constitute a serious assault on press freedom in the country.
According to press reports, López Aliaga made these remarks while also proposing the reinstatement of military tribunals in Peru.
The IAPA President José Roberto Dutriz said: “Expressions of this kind amount to incitement to hatred and place at grave risk the personal safety of a journalist recognized internationally for his investigative work against corruption and his commitment to independent journalism.” Dutriz is CEO and general director of La Prensa Gráfica in El Salvador.
Martha Ramos, Chair of IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, added: “Stigmatizing rhetoric against critical journalists is a direct threat to press freedom and fosters a hostile environment that undermines democracy.” Ramos, editorial director of Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM), added: “The State must guarantee the protection of Gustavo Gorriti, and we hold the government responsible for any harm that may result from the climate of harassment and stigmatization promoted from public office.”
Gorriti has faced threats, harassment, and smear campaigns since 2019, including being branded a “terruco” (terrorist sympathizer), according to La República. In 2023, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued precautionary measures, recognizing the high risk he faced.
An IAPA mission to Peru in March 2025 reported a serious deterioration in press and expression freedoms. The IAPA delegation found that “growing hostility towards independent media, judicial persecution of critical journalists, and systematic use of disinformation and social media attacks create an hostile environment for the press and directly affect the citizens' right to be informed.”
The IAPA, alongside local organizations including the Peruvian Press Council (CPP), the Press and Society Institute, and the National Association of Journalists (ANP), continues to document and denounce ongoing attacks on the press, including hate speech, threats, assaults, judicial actions, and restrictive legislative proposals.
The IAPA’s Chapultepec Index confirms this decline: between 2023 and 2024, Peru fell from 12th to 16th place among 22 countries evaluated, entering the “high restriction” category for press and expression freedoms.
The 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.