Miami (August 14, 2025) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) condemned and expressed concern over today’s ruling against the newspaper Vanguardia of Saltillo. The organization warned that the decision sets a regressive legal precedent for press freedom in Mexico.
The Eighth Circuit Collegiate Civil Court of Coahuila rejected the injunction (amparo) filed by Grupo Vanguardia against the December 9, 2024 ruling of the Civil and Family Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice (TSJ), which had dismissed the newspaper’s appeal in a lawsuit over an alleged commercial debt. According to Vanguardia, the case was processed with unusual speed and insufficient legal criteria, validating an “inferred” debt without a proper enforceable title that met legal requirements.
Among the irregularities pointed out by the defense were: the acceptance of a simple copy of a public deed with no enforceable value; the use of an account statement issued by an assignee company rather than a banking institution, which prevents the application of legal presumptions of validity; date inconsistencies and lack of proof of actual disbursement of the alleged loan; as well as the improper reversal of the burden of proof, forcing the defendant to prove what the plaintiff was supposed to demonstrate.
Consulted attorneys described as “extraordinary” the fact that an appeal spanning thousands of pages was resolved in just 72 hours, when similar cases typically take between one month and 45 days. Although the exact effects are not yet clear, the outlet was ordered to pay compensation, with the amount still undetermined. According to Vanguardia, this was a final-instance decision.
The company maintains that the lawsuit is the result of a systematic campaign of legal harassment and personal persecution initiated in 2016 by former governor Humberto Moreira Valdés, after the paper’s coverage of his arrest in Spain on alleged financial crimes. This past April, the IAPA had already warned about judicial pressure against Vanguardia, calling it a form of retaliation for its journalistic work.
José Roberto Dutriz, IAPA president, stated that “the use of judicial proceedings as a tool to pressure independent media constitutes a form of indirect censorship that erodes democracy.” Dutriz, CEO and general director of La Prensa Gráfica of El Salvador, added: “Any sign that a commercial dispute is being weaponized to punish investigative journalism should set off alarm bells for society.”
For her part, Martha Ramos, president of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, stressed: “We respect judicial institutions, but we cannot overlook it when their decisions affect fundamental rights enshrined in Articles 6 and 7 of the Mexican Constitution.” Ramos, director of the Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM), added: “This ruling not only endangers the economic stability of a media outlet but also deprives its audiences of access to information of public interest. Freedom of expression is not a privilege of the media, it is a right of the whole society.”
The IAPA reiterated its call on Mexican authorities to ensure that judicial disputes against media outlets are processed with strict adherence to due process guarantees, free from undue influence or political motivations, and warned it would continue to closely monitor the case and its implications for the Mexican press.
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.