MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

IAPA Meeting ends today in Panama.

Inter America Press Association program ends today, March 14, with resolutions and conclusions, as well as the Closing Luncheon with the participation of Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr., editor of The New York Times.

This meeting, one of two of the IAPA's annual meetings, had more than 370 newspaper editors, journalists, and citizens interested in the issue of press freedom, as well as in the seminars and panel discussions on relevant topics in the newspaper industry as part of the program of activities.

"The most alarming cases about abuses of press freedom occurred in Cuba and Venezuela," said the president of IAPA's press committee, Gonzalo Marroquín. But he also raised the alarm over the state of press freedom under the administration of President Néstor Kirchner.

"As long as attitudes like the one of (Fidel) Castro in Cuba, (Hugo) Chávez in Venezuela and Kirchner in Argentina persist, there will always be a voice raising to defend the right to inform and be informed."

Early this month, a IAPA delegation visiting Argentina issued a report saying that the Argentine government pressures journalists, and criticizing the arbitrary way in which government advertising is allocated.

Some hours later, however, Marroquín added that he was not comparing Kirchner to his Venezuelan and Cuban counterparts. "I just meant that all three have had intolerant attitudes, which deserve to be censored," Marroquín said.

IAPA head Alejo Miró Quesada during the opening address of the body's annual conference in Panama. Miró Quesada complained that the Kirchner government does not consider the media as a "valid mediator" between the government and the public.

The President bitterly criticized the international media organization while a IAPA mission was in Buenos Aires two weeks ago. Kirchner accused IAPA representatives of serving the interests of big media companies instead of serving press freedom.

Representatives of Argentine media at the gathering said that the report was right on criticizing President Kirchner, but he could not be compared to Castro or Chávez.