He Interamerican Institute for Democracy (IID) will celebrate his Honor Session this Wednesday at American Museum for the Cuban diaspora in MiamiFlorida, where the “Awards for Democracy 2024″. The prestigious awards will be presented during the ceremony. Carlos Alberto Montaner y George Washingtonalong with the recognitions Inter-American Press Award “Dr. “Horacio Aguirre” y Republic Awardsto outstanding leaders in the defense of democracy and freedom in the region.
He Carlos Alberto Montaner Award -which honors the defenders of democracy in the Americas- will be delivered to Jenny Lincolnexecutive director of the Carter Foundation. Lincoln and his team were the only foreign organization that could participate as an observer in the presidential elections of Venezuela in July of this year.
In the category Inter-American Press Award “Dr. “Horacio Aguirre”the winners for their contribution to journalism in defense of press freedom will be:
- Daniel Hadadfounder of Infobaefor his work in Innovation Journalism.
- Victoria Davilajournalist for the Colombian magazine Weekrecognized for its defense of Freedom of Expression.
- Robert Evan Ellis, professor of Research on Latin America at the United States Army War College, in the category of Investigative Journalism.
- Cayetana Álvarez de ToledoSpanish representative of the Popular Party (PP), distinguished in Opinion Journalism.
He Premio George Washington will be awarded posthumously to the Ecuadorian Fernando Villavicenciojournalist and politician murdered in August 2023 a few weeks before the presidential elections in Ecuador, already Thomas Regaladoformer mayor of Miami and activist for democracy and civil rights.
Finally, the Republic Awards They will recognize personalities committed to democratic values. The Lady of the Republic Order 2024 will be delivered to Iliana Lavastida -director of Diary of the Americas-, while the Knight Order of the Republic 2024 will be granted to Diego Suarez -director of the Cuban American National Foundation-, Fernando Hamdan -president of the Ibero-American Commission on Human Rights for the Development of the Americas-, Priest Juan Lázaro Vélez -exiled Cuban priest-, Roberto Salinas Leon -director of the Latin American Center of Atlas Network- and Enrique Aristeguieta Gramcko -Venezuelan activist founder of the Gran Alianza Nacional party.
The IID underlines the importance of these awards in a context of growing challenges for democracy in Latin Americahighlighting the work of individuals and organizations committed to freedom and fundamental rights in the region.
In the presentation before the press this Tuesday, the president of the IID, Thomas Regaladopointed out that the objective of the distinctions is “recognize people who have left their mark on our continent”. “We will honor a group of people, some of whom will not be able to be present due to the exceptional conditions in their countries,” highlighted the former mayor of Miami.
Regalado also highlighted the figure of Jenny Lincolndirector of the Carter Foundation.
“It was the only foreign agency that was allowed to have access as an observer to the Venezuelan presidential elections on July 28. The (Nicolás) Maduro regime trusted that this foundation was going to be the rubber that would allow them to steal the elections, but it was completely the opposite. The Carter Foundation recognized and believed that the opposition had won overwhelmingly, but they have gone to international organizations to publicize their concern about this very serious crisis that Venezuela is experiencing.“, said.
For its part, Carlos Sánchez BerzaínExecutive Director of think tank based in Miamisaid that the awards “They were established in 2013 and until 2022 were named after the hero Francisco de Miranda, but with the death of Carlos Alberto Montaner, the award took his name.”.
“Innovation journalism will be awarded for the second consecutive time to the Argentine journalist and lawyer Daniel Hadad and Infobae, because it is the journalistic entity and personality that has created a course of innovation that has no end. It is the most important newspaper, with the greatest expansion and presence, in the world in Spanish. And it is number 21 in the world, with an average of 70 million people who visit it. But it also defends democracy with a totally pluralistic participation“, said Sánchez Berzain.
