Miami (August 7, 2025) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) strongly condemns the intimidation campaign launched in Honduras against nine journalists and urges the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation to identify and punish those responsible. With only a few months until the general elections, the organization also calls for an immediate end to this type of harassment so that journalists and media outlets can carry out their informative work without fear of retaliation.
In the early hours of July 31, several banners were displayed on various streets of Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, featuring the names, faces, and media outlets or organizations to which nine journalists belong. The posters, bearing the message: “Hitmen of truth, weapons of mass disinformation, they don’t want elections to happen,” were attributed to the so-called Honduran Popular Movement, according to press reports.
The Red Centroamericana de Periodistas (Central American Network of Journalists) condemned the threats and stigmatization directed at the following journalists: Juan Carlos Sierra, president of the Honduran Journalists Association (CPH); Dagoberto Rodríguez, director of Radio Cadena Voces; Marlen Perdomo, director of Proceso Digital; Thelma Mejía, news and investigative coordinator of TN5 and board member of the Central American Network of Journalists; Renato Álvarez, director of TN5 Estelar and the program Frente a Frente; Blanca Moreno, journalist at El Proselitista HN; Rodrigo Wong Arévalo, owner of Canal 10 TEN; Héctor Ordóñez, journalist at Abriendo Brecha, and Eduardo Maldonado, owner and director of HCH.
The Colegio de Periodistas de Honduras (Honduran Journalists Association) also publicly denounced what it described as a campaign of persecution. According to the Central American Network of Journalists, this act of harassment followed reports on the involvement of the Armed Forces in the primary elections.
The IAPA President José Roberto Dutriz condemned “the stigmatization and intimidation of journalists and independent media—actions that deepen intolerance, worsen polarization, and weaken democracy.” Dutriz, CEO and general director of La Prensa Gráfica of El Salvador, warned that “smear campaigns, insults, and hostile rhetoric against the press can lead to unfortunate episodes of violence.”
Meanwhile, Martha Ramos, Chair of IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, urged authorities to act urgently. “We view this situation as a serious threat to journalists’ safety,” she said. Ramos, editorial director of the Mexican Editorial Organization (OEM), emphasized that “using banners to discredit and intimidate is not a form of free expression; on the contrary, it aims to instill fear and silence the independent press.”
The IAPA has recently raised alarms in its reports about the growing climate of tension and hostility toward the press in Honduras, in the context of the general elections scheduled for November. The organization has documented increasing levels of intolerance toward criticism, including threats, intimidation, stigmatization, targeted physical assaults, insults, discrediting remarks, and arbitrary detentions.
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.