(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 7 September 2000 IAPA press release: IAPA HOLDS NATIONAL FORUM ON THE DECLARATION OF CHAPULTEPEC IN PARAGUAY Asuncion (7 September 2000) – This week, the Inter American Press Association organized a national forum in Paraguay as part of its series of forums to promote the Declaration of Chapultepec in […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 7 September 2000 IAPA press release:
IAPA HOLDS NATIONAL FORUM ON THE DECLARATION OF CHAPULTEPEC IN PARAGUAY
Asuncion (7 September 2000) – This week, the Inter American Press Association organized a national forum in Paraguay as part of its series of forums to promote the Declaration of Chapultepec in the Americas. The Declaration is a document containing the fundamental principles necessary for freedom of expression and the press.
The Eleventh National Forum on the Declaration of Chapultepec took place from 4 to 6 September in Asuncion, Paraguay, as part of the IAPA’s ongoing efforts to bring attention to the ten principles on freedom of expression.
The discussion on and promotion of the Declaration of Chapultepec is of particular importance to IAPA because the country’s legal system contains a high number of criminal regulations restraining the exercise of the journalistic profession and the free flow of information.
As part of its activities, the IAPA delegation met with Paraguayan President Luis González Macchi, Vice-President Julio César Franco, President of the Supreme Court Carlos Fernández Gadea, and the president of the Deputees’ Chamber, Cándido Vera Bejarano.
During these meetings, the IAPA expressed its concern over the threats to freedom of expression and the press in Paraguay. In response, the country’s highest authorities promised to analyse the situation. Furthermore, President González Macchi and Vice-President Franco signed the Declaration of Chapultepec.
On Monday 4 September, the IAPA met with radio, television and press directors to talk about the Declaration of Chapultepec. On Tuesday 5 September, a Conference on the Chapultepec Declaration, which included a panel discussion entitled “The Chapultepec Declaration and Freedom of Expression in Paraguay”, was held in Holel Granados Park in Asuncion. The editors-in-chief of the country’s four main dailies and constitutional lawyer Jorge Seall were among the panelists.
Representatives of the hemispheric organisation also visited the editorial offices of Paraguay’s main newspapers and left them copies of the Declaration. The National Forum appreciated the support of the ABC Color daily, the regional vice-president of the Commission on Freedom of Information and the Press for Paraguay (Comision de Libertad de Prensa e Informacion por Paraguay), Aldo Zuccolillo, and all the Paraguayan dailies which are members of the IAPA.
The IAPA delegation consisted of President Tony Pederson, of the Houston Chronicle, Houston, Texas; Raúl Kraiselburd, of El Día, La Plata, Argentina and former president of the IAPA; Executive Director Julio E. Muñoz; Jairo Lanao, lawyer for the Chapultepec Project; and Sean Casey, administrator of the Chapultepec Project.
