Journalists and human rights organizations, within the framework of World Press Freedom Day, highlighted “the courage” and “courage” of the Nicaraguan journalistic union to continue reporting in the midst of a context of forced exile, persecution and repression that continues the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo against dissident voices.
Guillermo Medrano, of the Foundation for Freedom of Expression and Democracy (FLED), pointed out that the independent Nicaraguan press “is experiencing one of the darkest times in recent decades as far as journalistic practice is concerned; to the constant attacks, siege, intimidation; which has led to exile, jail and even the death of journalists”.
“Despite all these difficult moments, we see with great courage that bravery, that courage and that decision that the independent media have taken not to resign, not to silence themselves, despite all the excesses that the government has implemented to try to silence, to silence the independent press,” Medrano told Article 66.
Related news: Voces del Sur denounces the breach of freedom of expression and press in Nicaragua
Likewise, he stressed that the media have reinvented themselves “to continue reporting, to continue providing the information that the audiences require, many of the media that were previously in their traditional version have moved to the digital version and continue to report, even the media that have been forced to go into exile to protect the safety of journalists and their families. That is a recognition that we must make today, three decades after World Press Freedom Day was established.
forced exile
In the first quarter of 2023, at least seven journalists have been exiled due to the criminalization, siege, persecution and attacks by the Ortega Murillo dictatorship against the Nicaraguan press, reflects a report by the organization Voces del Sur.
The agency records that at least 185 journalists have had to leave the country to protect their safety for political reasons. since the beginning of the social crisis in 2018.
Gonzalo Carrionpresident of the Nunca Más Nicaragua Human Rights Collective, also specified that at least 25 media outlets and platforms continue to report from exile.
“There is independent journalism reporting and for doing it as they are doing they are equally persecuted, that is why the majority are outside,” said the human rights defender.
He stressed that independent journalists have played a “vital role” in denouncing and publicizing the repression and all the serious human rights violations that have been perpetrated in Nicaragua.
On the other hand, the journalist Franklin Villavicencioeditor of the Divergentes outlet and exiled in Mexico, said that within the country there is no media outlet or journalist openly or freely exercising their profession, because the regime has been in charge of censoring and canceling independent media.
Villavicencio also considered that the fact that there is no freedom of the press in Nicaragua, “that one within the country cannot exercise it, does not mean that there are not people doing everything possible to do so through security measures, through communication channels.” secure communication or through the trust that sources have in journalists”.
He considers that in Nicaragua “there is an attempt at least to have whispers within the country, which can be amplified by the voices that are abroad.”
«Freedom of the press in Nicaragua is weakening every time until it is one of the freedoms that cannot be exercised within the country, but I believe that there are those who are being the attempt through anonymity and silenced voices. (…) journalists in exile are also trying to amplify all this censorship and report more and more from their conditions abroad, I think that this is a very important point, we could say that this freedom of the press is also sustained among them that cannot be exercised in Nicaragua,” he added.
Justice for Angel Gahona
On the other hand, Guillermo Medrano stated that five years later “we are still waiting and demanding justice for the murder of the journalist Ángel Gahona, which on a date like today, World Press Freedom Day, is an auspicious date to remember Ángel Gahona, who died in the exercise of the profession.
Likewise, “it is an auspicious date to remind the State of Nicaragua that we are still in that demand for justice to be done, that the true perpetrators of this crime be found and punished,” said the journalist, also.
