A total of 93 journalists went into exile in Nicaragua in 2022, making a total of 178 reporters who left the country since 2018, when protests broke out against President Daniel Ortega, according to a report by southern voicesa regional network of civil society organizations that monitors the situation of press freedom in the region.
The report details that journalists have been welcomed by countries such as Costa Rica, the United States and Spain, from where many of them continue to carry out their informative work.
Similarly, it explains that at least 4 Nicaraguan journalists were prevented from returning to their country, including journalist Tifani Roberts, from the Univisión network, and Luis Felipe Palacios, from the EFE news agency.
The organization denounced that in 2022 there were 703 cases of violations of press freedom, however it indicates that they were aware of many more cases, which were not documented at the request of the victims.
“We deeply regret the situation of fear that the government of Daniel Ortega has spread against journalists and their families… we urge the State to respect the exercise of independent journalism,” said Voces del Sur.
The government of President Daniel Ortega did not respond to a request for comment from the voice of america on the denunciations of attacks on press freedom, however the vice president of Nicaragua Rosario Murillo has branded the journalists critical of his management as “coup plotters and liars.”
Ortega, who returned to power in 2007, has maintained fierce persecution against the independent press since 2018, when thousands of Nicaraguans took to the streets to reject the government.
Several media have been closed in the Central American country, such as the newspaper La Prensa, the oldest, as well as 100% Noticias and Confidencial, directed by journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro.
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