Miami (October 5, 2026) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) deeply regretted the announced end of the print edition of the Ecuadorian newspaper Expreso and urged the country’s authorities to end all forms of state harassment and pressure against critical media outlets and journalists.
Expreso, published in Guayaquil by Gráficos Nacionales S.A. (Granasa), will cease its print circulation on Friday, October 9, and will continue operating in digital format, according to press reports. The company’s other newspaper, Extra, will continue publishing both print and digital editions.
The decision comes amid Granasa’s complex financial situation. Its chief executive officer, Galo Martínez Leisker, has called an Extraordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting for October 13 to review the company’s financial situation and decide, among other matters, on the sale of real estate and the company’s brands. Ecuavisa reported that nine properties, including Expreso’s headquarters in Guayaquil, have a combined asking price of USD 17.35 million.
IAPA President Pierre Manigault said: “We regret that a newspaper with more than five decades of history will cease to circulate in print. Beyond the business decisions that belong exclusively to its owners, it is impossible to ignore the context of sustained pressure surrounding Granasa. When government actions contribute to weakening the viability and independence of a critical media outlet, society loses spaces for debate, oversight and pluralism.”
Manigault, president of Evening Post Publishing Inc. in Charleston, South Carolina, added: “We urge the Ecuadorian government to cease any form of direct or indirect harassment against Expreso, Extra, their executives and journalists, and to guarantee conditions that allow all media outlets to carry out their work without reprisals for their editorial positions.”
In a statement, Fundamedios said the announcement comes after more than a year of administrative, judicial and rhetorical actions by the state against Granasa. Among the background events it cited were audits by the Internal Revenue Service (SRI) of the company’s distributors; seven raids conducted by the Prosecutor’s Office in September 2025 as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion; disputes over the company’s share ownership; and the intervention of Granasa by the Superintendency of Companies in February of this year.
Martha Ramos, chair of IAPA’s Press and Information Freedom Commission and editorial director of Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM), said: “The economic deterioration of a media outlet cannot be analyzed in isolation when it has been preceded by a succession of government actions and allegations of pressure on advertisers and journalists. Indirect, economic or administrative harassment can be just as effective in silencing critical voices as overt censorship.”
Ramos added: “The end of Expreso’s print edition impoverishes Ecuador’s news ecosystem and should serve as a serious warning. Authorities have an obligation to respect editorial independence and refrain from using regulatory agencies, judicial proceedings or any other state mechanism as instruments of pressure against the press.”
IAPA had already warned on April 16 of a “serious judicial escalation against Grupo Granasa” and expressed concern at the time over the accumulation of judicial, administrative and regulatory actions against the publisher of Expreso and Extra. The organization said these measures could not be examined in isolation and warned of the risk that they could affect the company’s ownership structure and potentially the editorial line of its media outlets.
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.
