"The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) on Friday [June 9] urged the presidents of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and Argentina, Alberto Fernández, to 'stop the stigmatizing discourse' against journalists and the media and said that 'disapproval from power can encourage violence against the press.'
[...] Five Colombian journalists from RCN Radio, Blu Radio and Caracol Radio were attacked by demonstrators [on June 7] during pro-government marches in Bogotá, Medellín and Barranquilla. [...] The IAPA expressed its 'concern' for the 'stigmatizing messages and bashed' of President Petro against the media and journalists, which it considered 'potential generators of hatred.'
[...]
At the same time this week, in Argentina, on the eve of the celebration of the Journalist's Day, President Alberto Fernández 'justified the disqualification against the press.'
Fernández, according to the IAPA, said: 'People lie, defame, insult, but we do not react, and we trust that the citizens will discover who is the defamer, the liar, the corrupt journalist who receives money to say what they want.'
'It is not a question of giving a blank check to journalists or prohibiting them from criticizing them, but the authorities must avoid their insults since it is an apology for violence,' said Carlos Jornet, chairman of the IAPA's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information."
