President Luis Abinader addressed the inaugural session of the 81st General Assembly of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA). He told his audience that “any government that fears the press, fears the truth.” Abinader stressed the fact that government transparency, strong journalists, concerned citizens all produce a climate of freedom of the press.
Abinader strongly emphasized his government’s commitment to transparency, saying that criticisms only improve government. He also talked at length about the administration’s legislation that covers freedom of the press and the media, in order to bring it up-to-date in the era of digital communications, social platforms, disinformation and artificial intelligence. He also pronounced his litany regarding a free press: “Without a free press, there is no transparency; without transparency there is no confidence; and without confidence, democracy disappears.”
José Roberto Dutriz, president of IAPA and executive director Carlos Lauría at the assembly’s close had praise for Abinader’s words saying they were a welcome anomaly in a hemisphere where restrictions are on the rise.
The IAPA Abinader’s pledge for a safe and respectful environment for journalists offers a hopeful, though isolated, message as the continent struggles with a clear retreat from democratic norms regarding media freedom.
Dutriz warned that the current political climate, even in the United States, which has seen an increase in official rhetoric against the media, points to a “weakening of the hemisphere’s most influential democratic system.”
“What happens in Washington reverberates throughout the Americas,” Dutriz stated as he opened the organization’s plenary sessions.
The IAPA’s report painted a grim picture of a generalized decline in press freedom over the last six months across the continent:
• Argentina: President Javier Milei has made the disdain for journalists a defining feature of his public discourse.
• Colombia: President Gustavo Petro continues to stigmatize media outlets and reporters, often linking them to “mafia practices.”
• Costa Rica and Ecuador: Verbal attacks by the presidents of these nations against communicators persist.
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Presidency
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
20 October 2025