Rio, May 12, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents issued a note with regard to the article written by American reporter Larry Rohter and published on Sunday (9) in the New York Times, concerning President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's reputed excess consumption of alcoholic beverages. Cancellation of the reporter's visa, the note says, "violates the freedom of the press."

The full text of the note is the following:

"Notwithstanding the content of the article by New York Times reporter Larry Rohter, the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents considers the cancellation of his visa, or rather, his expulsion from Brazil, a very grave act that violates the freedom of the press and recalls the darkest periods of the country's history.

We greatly lament this decision, which does not conform to the principles of a free and democratic society. We fear that this drastic attitude constitutes a warning to foreign correspondents that, in order to work in Brazil, they should write articles that please the Government."

Translator: David Silberstein