Urged authorities to publicly report on the progress of the investigation into the journalist’s murder.
Miami (October 29, 2025) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) condemned the murder of journalist Fernando Álvarez in Ecuador. The media organization urged authorities to conduct a swift, thorough, and impartial investigation to identify and punish all those involved in the crime.
Fernando Álvarez was killed on the night of October 28 while playing a soccer match with friends in the province of Guayas. He was attacked by assailants who shot him at least 15 times. Álvarez died at the scene, according to local media reports. The journalist was the founder and administrator of the digital media outlet FernandoTV, where he covered local news and citizen complaints, according to press reports.
IAPA President Pierre Manigault called on authorities not to rule out Álvarez’s journalistic work as a possible motive for the murder. Expressing solidarity with the journalist’s family, Manigault, Chairman at Evening Post Publishing Inc., a media group in Charleston, South Carolina, recalled that “impunity in crimes against journalists undermines the public’s right to be informed and encourages further attacks against the press.”
The chair of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Martha Ramos, noted that “unfortunately, Ecuador has been suffering from serious violations of press freedom, that are evident in assaults and threats, among other attacks on journalists and the media,” as noted in a recent IAPA report on Ecuador. Ramos, editorial director of Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM), urged authorities to publicly report on the progress of the investigation into the journalist’s murder.
In addition to Álvarez, another journalist, Patricio Aguilar, director of the community newspaper El Libertador, was also murdered this year — on March 4, 2025, in Quinindé, Esmeraldas province — apparently for reasons related to his professional work.
For its part, the organization for the protection of freedom of expression, Fundamedios, condemned the crime and called on the Ecuadorian government to guarantee the safety of journalists.
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.