Ecuadornews:
The president of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, signed the Declaration of Chapultepec on Wednesday. He did it in the event held in the Chapel of Man together with ministers, representatives of media organizations in Ecuador and before a delegation of the Inter American Press Association (SIP) and special guests.
“Today we are in a different Ecuador, with an open, tolerant and democratic government (…),” said IAPA President María Elvira Domínguez, editor of El País newspaper in Cali (Colombia). “His Government assumed the commitment to respect freedom of the press and of expression, to tolerate criticism and dissent, and to end the premeditated persecution of media and journalists. Commitment that has fulfilled “. However, while congratulating Moreno for the reforms to the Organic Law of Communication, he warned that it still contains several articles, among them the one that establishes that information is a public service, which “contravenes values of international conventions”.
When taking the floor, the Ecuadorian president said that “this is a very important day for the country, because we will give a convincing testimony of our conviction and profound respect for freedom. So:for freedom … The press and the expression can only be called such, if they are free. If a press is not free, it should be called a megaphone, speaker, or puppet … but never press. “
“The adhesion of Ecuador to the maximum representation of freedom of the press, which is the Declaration of Chapultepec, reiterates my commitment to achieve a more just society for all,” said the president.
The Declaration of Chapultepec is a decalogue of principles on freedom of expression and the press. It has been signed by more than 70 heads of state of the Americas. (I)
