Faced with an unfortunate fact of misinformation on the part of President Gustavo Petro, the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP), its Assembly and its management team, allow themselves to clarify the following:
- FLIP defends journalists from all over the country, from different media outlets and from various editorial positions, that is what the defense of press freedom consists of. This is what it has done for the last 28 years. His attempt to delegitimize this Foundation sets a damaging precedent and fuels fear of censorship, precisely at a time when various media are publishing high-interest reports about public officials who are being accused of committing acts of corruption. In addition, there is a situation of violence against journalists. Five journalists have been murdered in the last 19 months: Rafael Moreno, Wilder Córdoba, Luis Gabriel Pereira, Mardonio Mejía and Jaime Vásquez. They are all regional journalists. In addition, in two other murders it is still being studied whether the crime is related to the journalistic profession: Hilton Barrios and Jorge Méndez.
Unfortunately, these events have not received an energetic response from them, as would be expected from any head of state, taking into account the impact that this violence leaves on the entire community.
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FLIP is an organization that does not respond to any political interest or partisan pressure. It is financed entirely by international cooperation, mainly by the cooperation agencies of Sweden, Holland, Germany and Spain.
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We have sought to meet with you on several occasions. On the first occasion you cancelled. On the second occasion you did not attend the appointment that had been confirmed.
A year ago we sent you a third request to have a joint meeting with Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), IFEX and the Inter American Press Association (IAPA). However, to date that request has not received a response. These meetings have had the purpose of talking about the challenges of press freedom in the country, as well as his responsibilities as President regarding the protection of journalists.
- This Foundation was created and promoted in 1996 by Patricia Gómez, Hernando Corral, Judith Sarmiento, Ignacio Gómez, Alejandro Galvis, Jaime Abello, Héctor Rincón, María Teresa Herrán, Ernesto McCausland, Luis Cañón, Gabriel García Márquez and Javier Darío Restrepo, who was its first executive director. Enrique Santos and Franciso Santos were other founding members, as recorded in the organization’s constitution.
Since then, FLIP has been able to represent and offer vital help to journalists who are subject to censorship, pressure and violence of all kinds. Today it has an assembly of 96 people and a board of directors of 13 members. In addition, a team of more than 40 people is in charge of the daily work of the organization. FLIP is an active part of the most prestigious global networks that defend journalism around the world.
Francisco Santos has not participated in our assemblies for more than 20 years and has no influence in the decisions made by the organization.
The FLIP is not the organization of one person, it is a citizen group, of those of us who represent the diversity and plurality of journalism and of those of us who believe that its defense is fundamental in a democratic society.
You have reiterated your democratic commitment. However, these types of interventions have the potential impact of weakening an organization that supports journalism in the public opinion. We reiterate the invitation to fulfill your role of respecting a fundamental office for pluralism, democracy and surveillance of the powerful, and refrain from stigmatizing journalists.
FLIP Board of Directors
- Ana Cristina Restrepo
- Ricardo Cipagauta
- Nidia Serrano
- Stephen Ferry
- Claudia Baez
- Juan Esteban Lewin
- Laura Ardila
- Sonia Godoy
- Ignacio Gomez
- Juliana Cano
- Ana Bejarano
- Santiago Rivas
- Nathan Jaccard
- Jonathan Bock, CEO
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