Overview

• Dominican president Luis Abinader opened the 81st SIP General Assembly by reaffirming support for journalism and the Salta II principles on expression in the digital era.
• SIP leadership described a hemisphere-wide deterioration in conditions for the press, with outgoing president José Roberto Dutriz citing alarming trends in the United States under President Trump.
• The Commission on Freedom of the Press reported accelerating pressures and documented the use of government-paid digital operators to amplify official narratives and harass critics in Colombia, Argentina and Costa Rica.
• SIP executive director Carlos Lauría announced new National Endowment for Democracy backing for Relpex to provide legal, housing and employment assistance to displaced journalists.
• Panels detailed exile and harassment in Haiti, Peru and Guatemala, the organization reported press-freedom missions to Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica and Peru, and SIP conferred awards including honors to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Telecom Argentina, Daniel Coronell and René Picado Cozza.