Organization calls for guarantees to protect the anonymity of journalistic sources
Organization calls for guarantees to protect the anonymity of journalistic sources
Miami (November 10, 2025) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) expressed deep concern over statements made by the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Honduran Armed Forces, General Roosevelt Hernández, who accused media executive Jorge Canahuati, CEO of Grupo OPSA and former IAPA president, of leading an alleged “media campaign” against him and the military institution.
The IAPA recalled that public officials must respect the right of the press to report and express opinions freely, without pressure or discrediting remarks that could undermine freedom of expression.
According to local media reports, Hernández claimed that the alleged campaign — “disguised as journalistic coverage”— was retaliation for failed business dealings between Grupo OPSA and companies of the Military Pension Institute. The general further asserted that “the campaign is not an isolated incident, but part of a network where public and private actors are intertwined with organized crime structures,” in the context of the ongoing electoral process.
In response to these attacks, the newspapers La Prensa and El Heraldo published on Monday a column titled “The Press Responds to Roosevelt’s Attacks with Journalism: ‘We Will Not Be Silenced’, ” emphasizing that “the Honduran press has used its only weapon for defense: journalism.”
IAPA President Pierre Manigault, Chairman at Evening Post Publishing Inc. of Charleston, South Carolina, United States, stated that “such accusations from high-ranking military officials constitute a form of pressure and discredit toward the independent press, with the potential to erode freedom of expression and foster an atmosphere of harassment and intimidation against journalists and media outlets, especially on the eve of the November 30 general elections.”
For her part, IAPA’s Chair of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Martha Ramos, editorial director of the Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM), reminded that “in a democracy, the media perform the essential function of scrutinizing those in power and questioning the conduct of public institutions. Authorities must respond with transparency and facts, not with attacks that seek to discredit journalistic work or with attempts at intimidation.”
The IAPA warned that in Honduras “the work of the press has been seriously affected by direct actions from the Armed Forces that reveal a pattern of intimidation, defamation, and stigmatization against journalists and media outlets,” as documented in its country report presented during its General Assembly last October.
In May, the IAPA had already rejected an offensive by the Honduran military establishment, whose official media outlet went so far as to describe journalists as “hitmen of the truth.” In February, the organization denounced a new campaign of intimidation led by General Hernández himself, who threatened to initiate legal action against 12 media outlets —including El Heraldo and La Prensa— to force them to disclose their sources.
The IAPA reiterated its solidarity with Jorge Canahuati —who presided over the organization between 2020 and 2022— and with all Honduran journalists and media who carry out their work in an increasingly hostile environment. The organization urged the Armed Forces and the government of Honduras to foster respectful dialogue and guarantee the safety and freedom of journalists.
According to press reports, the National Electoral Council had previously ordered General Hernández to refrain from making statements on political or electoral issues, reminding him that the Armed Forces operate under its coordination one month before the elections to “avoid political interpretations regarding their participation in the electoral process.”
The IAPA also raised concern over the escalating attacks against the digital outlet Criterio.hn. Its director and cofounder, Emy Padilla, denounced the hacking of the outlet’s social media accounts, public stigmatization, and administrative harassment by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which demanded that the site reveal its sources in investigations about alleged commercial connections between businesswoman Kensy Ivette García Torres —currently facing charges in the U.S.— and networks of drug trafficking, corruption-linked officials, and former Defense Minister Samuel Reyes (2014–2018).
The organization urged Honduran authorities to guarantee professional secrecy and the protection of the anonymity of journalistic sources, a principle enshrined both in the Honduran Constitution and in international standards on press freedom.
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.