MADRID, Spain.- The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) inaugurated this Thursday its 78th General Assembly, based in Madrid, Spain, which aims to analyze the challenges of journalism and the media.
During the opening of the meeting, it was denounced that violence is “one of the worst challenges” of the profession in Latin America.
The president of the IAPA, Honduran Jorge Canahuati, pointed out that Cuba and Nicaragua “have become major exporters of journalists in exile.” He also referred to free and independent journalism as “the most reliable lifeline of democracy and the common good,” and called on the media to continue working to neutralize authoritarian rulers.
For her part, Gabriela Cañas, president of the EFE Agency, called for “more effective solidarity” with the media that sees their freedom of expression coerced and called for “joining efforts in verifying news”, since it is “essential to spread the truth. ”.
Tawfik Jelassi, deputy director general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), pointed out that Latin America and the Caribbean are among the most dangerous regions for journalists.
“The exercise of journalism in the Americas is extremely important to hold governments accountable in this digital age, which is causing us to face very important challenges,” he stressed.
Within the framework of the Assembly, Michael Greespon, a journalist from the New York Timessaid to the voice of america: In Latin America “governments continue to repress freedom of expression and of the media. The governments of the media in Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba, and increasingly in Ecuador and Peru, are putting an end to the life of the media.”
During the first session of the meeting, where more than 250 journalists, editors and media owners participate, issues related to the sustainability of the media and new business values in a democracy were also addressed.
The Assembly’s program, which will run until October 30, includes panels on freedom of the press, especially related to the situation in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. In this sense, the organization Reporters Without Borders in Spain will develop a panel that will bring together journalists from Central America, Venezuela and Cuba who suffer harassment of freedom of expression.
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