The Executive Committee of the Inter-American Bar Association – IABA - / Federación Interamericana de Abogados – FIA –, an international lawyer organization with headquarters in Washington D.C., USA, founded in 1940 for the promotion and protection of the Rule of Law and including amongst its members Colleges, Bars and national and territorial lawyer organizations in the Americas, Spain and France;
Aware of the circumstances affecting the normal functioning of the legal profession in Puerto Rico, which circumstances have led to an institutional conflict and the arrest of Osvaldo Toledo, the President of the Puerto Rico Bar Association,

EXPRESSES its concern regarding the succession of institutional measures leading, in practice, to a restriction of the power of action and resources of the Puerto Rico Bar Association, a historical and traditional Puerto Rican institution renowned for the social role it performs in defense of the rights and liberties in justifiable cases and of the Puerto Rican citizenry at large, aside from its standing as a bulwark in the defense of the Rule of Law on the Island.

SETS FORTH its concern regarding the use, in specific court proceedings (in civil jurisdiction) affecting the Bar Association of Puerto Rico, of measures that conflict with the fundamental right to freedom of expression and opinion (Declaration of Principles on the Freedom of Expression, Principle I, in relation to Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights of the OAS) that introduce an element of secrecy eventually susceptible to use against the good end pursued by the values such right represents; and further defends the practice of law in favor of the Puerto Rican citizenry;

OFFERS to mediate in the conflict in order to help build bridges of institutional dialogue among the affected parties.

DRAWS ATTENTION to the constitutional value of the functions performed with exemplary dedication by the Puerto Rico Bar Association and to its essentiality in the system of Justice of the Island.

AND EXPRESSES its support and solidarity with the Puerto Rico Bar Association, an institutional member of the FIA/IABA, as an essential institution for the democratic order in the Commonwealth.