A year has passed since I received this distinguished post from you. It seems impossible! The time gone so fast!

And there are so many things to do in the IAPA that there is never enough time!

Yesterday I said in a talk that the IAPA today is more mature, more influential, more financially stable and has more members than ever. But I also said that obviously that was not my doing…I received it in that condition.

For that reason I think this is a good time to praise all the presidents who came before me and who, step by step, have made the IAPA the great institution that it is today. Please give a hand to those who are with us today and those who are not.

For me today is the day to give thanks. To thank the presidents and members of the committees who this year even handled the job of drafting a Strategic Plan and evaluating its implementation. The Press Freedom, Chapultepec and Impunity committees and the Press Institute, among others, have held more than 100 activities throughout the hemisphere—that is two a week. Please give them a hand.

It is time to thank the speakers and panelists who agreed to join us and share their personal and valuable knowledge. Please give them a big hand.

And how could I not thank the staff who once again have demonstrated their high level of efficiency and who supported me with such affection. They trusted me and were undaunted in taking on new challenges despite the increased work load. A big hand, please.

And the Executive Committee which takes on the less exciting but equally important job, the thorny administrative and financial issues. The IAPA now handles $3.5 million a year. Let’s give them a big hand.

And a big hand also for my vice presidents, Diana and Rafael, who supported all my plans.

Please forgive me but I must take the time to thank my company, Empresa Editora El Comercio, which supported me all year providing facilities to do my work for IAPA, and, of course, financing it. And how could I fail to thank those who made it possible for me to be absent from work for more than 100 days: my cousin, Bernardo Roca Rey Miró Quesada, who filled in for me as editor when I was away, and who is filling in for me now, as well as the publishers of El Comercio who support me with such loyalty and efficiency.

And to those who elected me to this post, thank you for having confidence in me. Thank you for allowing me to fulfill this ambition and cap my journalistic career.

Thanks to my father and mother who instilled in me the human and journalistic values that I have tried to reflect during my term. How they would have wanted to be here with such good lifelong friends! Unfortunately, the doctors would not let them travel.

To all of them, to all of you, thank you, and I hope with all my heart that I have been able to give to the IAPA as much as I have received from it.

In this way I end my term and deliver this now traditional “varayoc” (the ancient emblem of the Inca chief, or curaca) to Diana Daniels. I do it with great pleasure because I am sure Diana will use the authority represented by this staff with great efficiency and wisdom to benefit the IAPA and journalism in the hemisphere.