Ortega carried out an “information blackout” and imposed his “false news” in Nicaragua
Since Ortega came to power in 2007, he has ordered the closure of the media, mainly local radio stations and channels in various departments of the country. His repressive arm is the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Posts (Telcor).
As of 2018, the closure of the media has been executed more quickly and international media have been removed from the cable grid, they informed the audiences about the situation of violation of human rights in Nicaragua.
In these five years of sociopolitical crisis, restrictions on freedom of the press and expression have intensified, including the censorship of independent media and the confiscation of journalistic equipment, which have left more than 50 outlets closed, more than 15 confiscated and at least 185 exiled journalists.
From exile, Cristhoper Mendoza, a member of Independent Journalists and Communicators of Nicaragua (PCIN), considers that what has happened in the country is a “repressive escalation” that was accentuated in 2018, but that has been registered for more than 16 years .
Silence critical voices
Ortega carried out an "information blackout" and imposed his "false news" in Nicaragua
Mendoza assures that the objective pursued by Rosario Murillo is “to silence the voices of journalism, they knew that it was important to have critical voices on their side or to silence them, that is why they took over many media outlets.”
In addition, he says, “they bought the conscience” of several people dedicated to the press who today do not do journalism, but propaganda and publicity for the regime. “They put the dictatorship at stake,” he stressed.
He assures that press freedom in Nicaragua has changed a lot in the last five years because “we went from a situation where they tried to silence you to violence against journalism, the murder of Ángel Gahona, the imprisonment of journalists. We currently have imprisoned journalists.”
«Miguel Mendoza, Miguel Mora, are part of those prisoners. It is part of his attempt to intimidate. Journalists do not want to be behind bars and not see their family. This implies that there is a process of terror, of fear, that seeks journalism to self-censor,” he added.
forced into exile
Regime ensures that there is freedom of expression, but censors and forces journalists into exile
The communicator stated that in Nicaragua there are no conditions to practice journalism due to the climate of state repression and this forces the men and women of the press to protect their lives in other countries to continue reporting.
“Starting in 2018, when the regime noticed that the public was against it, (it came to the conclusion that) critical voices had to be silenced and made use of its own media and told a parallel story to the reality of rape against human rights,” he argued.
Violation of freedom of the press
The Red de Voces del Sur, within the framework of last March 1, Nicaraguan Journalist’s Day, denounced that the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo constantly violates the universal right to freedom of expression and of the press in Nicaragua.
The agency highlighted that in 2022 journalists faced the “intensification of violence and threats” exerted by the Ortega dictatorship. He added that last year there were 703 attacks against Nicaraguan journalists, of which in 498 cases, the State -controlled by Daniel Ortega- was the main aggressor.
22 journalists declared stateless
Ortega carried out an "information blackout" and imposed his "false news" in Nicaragua
Between February 9 and 15, 2023, the Ortega dictatorship stripped 22 journalists of their Nicaraguan nationality, the vast majority of whom, from exile, continue to report on human rights violations committed by the ruling party.
Among the journalists who have become stateless are Carlos Fernando Chamorro, winner of the 38th Ortega y Gasset Journalism Awards and director of Confidencial and Esta Semana; Wilfredo Miranda, collaborator in Nicaragua for the Spanish newspaper El País and winner of the 2018 King of Spain Ibero-American Journalism Award.
Also the directors of digital media Lucía Pineda (100% News), Luis Galeano (Café con Voz), Jennifer Ortiz (Nicaragua Investiga), Patricia Orozco (Onda Local), Manuel Díaz (Bacanal Nica), Álvaro Navarro (Article 66), David Quintana (Ecological Bulletin), Aníbal Toruño (Radio Darío), Santiago Aburto (BTN News) and Jimmy Guevara (Criteria).
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