On Day of the Dead 2018 PEN remembers writers and journalists killed in Latin America

London, 31 October 2018 – PEN International and its Latin American Centres will mark Day of the Dead with a series of events held between 30 October and 5 November. Across 11 countries, Centres will remember journalists who have been killed and call on their governments to bring an end to impunity, violence and persecution of writers and journalists, as well as to protect freedom of expression.

The PEN Day of the Dead campaign will expose how the climate for freedom of expression continues to deteriorate in Latin America: more than 180 writers and journalists have been killed or disappeared in countries such as Brazil, Honduras and Mexico since 2003; more than 20 of these in 2018. Meanwhile in countries such as Nicaragua and Venezuela, freedom of expression has deteriorated to such a degree that many journalists, writers, bloggers and active Twitter users have been imprisoned or fled their countries.

“The ancestral and Mexican celebration of Day of the Dead, which honours the dead, also invites us to reflect and honour all of those journalists and writers who have lost their lives, with impunity, for thinking, for writing and for exercising the right to freedom of expression,” said Jennifer Clement, President of PEN International.

Led by writers and journalists across the region, the PEN Day of the Dead campaign includes public events featuring the building of altars, public readings, protests, processions, roundtables, and debates, which will take place in Argentina, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, the USA and Venezuela.

Activities

Tuesday, 30 October 2018

• Argentina
  “Death and resurrection: we will not let the word, the truth, and rights die”
  19:00 at Casa de la Lectura, Lavalleja 924, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Thursday, 1 November 2018

• Haiti
  “PEN Protesta, Day of the Dead” – a poetic wake in memory of writers and journalists killed
  Rue Thomassin 32, Centro PEN de Thomassin, Puerto Príncipe, Haiti.

• Nicaragua
  “You can’t kill the truth” – a discussion and screening of documentaries on the situation for freedom of expression in Mexico and Nicaragua
  08:30 at Cinemas Galería, Sala 4, Managua, Nicaragua

Friday, 2 November 2018

• Guatemala
  “Homage to journalists who have tragically disappeared” 17:00 at Auditorio de la Escuela de Ciencias de la Comunicación de la Universidad de San Carlos, Guatemala.

• Mexico (Guadalajara)
  “Altar of the dead. A tribute to journalists killed in Mexico”
  19:30 at Escuela SOGEM de Escritores. Circuito Agustín Yáñez #2839, Vallarta, Guadalajara

• Mexico (San Miguel de Allende)
  “Altar of the dead”
  Main Park, San Miguel de Allende, 1st and 2nd November

• Paraguay
  “Truth and freedom beyond death”
  19:00 at Biblioteca Municipal Augusto Roa Bastos

• Puerto Rico
  “PEN Protesta, Day of the Dead, in solidarity with Latin America” – discussion on Freedom of expression
  18:00 at Librería Mágica, Avenida Ponce de León, Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

• USA (PEN Cuban Writers in Exile)
  “PEN Protesta, Day of the Dead, in memory of slain journalists”
  19:00 at the Inter-American Institute for Democracy, S.W. Suit #500 Coral Way Florida 33145 Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0gq8tmNrfg.

• Venezuela
  “Silence must not consume us: faced with the closure of media outlets, let’s raise our voice!” Caracas, Venezuela

Monday, 5 November 2018

• Honduras
  “Impunity for crimes against journalists, the Honduran state’s debt” – discussion on Freedom of expression
  10:00 at Hotel Intercontinental, Tegucigalpa, Honduras