Nicaraguan journalist Elsbeth D'Anda, with Canal 23 (CDNN 23), was arrested October 27 after reporting on the increasing cost of living during a broadcast, according to news reports. His whereabouts and the charges against him are unknown, according to reports.
D’Anda hosted and produced the TV show “La Cobertura,” which featured audience phone reports on social issues, such as energy and water supply challenges, according to a review of the program's YouTube channel by CPJ.
According to a report by Nicaraguan news site 100% Noticias, D'Anda called on the authorities to supervise local markets so the “prices of perishables don't skyrocket.”
The human rights organization Lawyers Defending the People (Abogados Defensores del Pueblo) said that at least 20 agents entered D'Anda’s home without an arrest or search warrant, handcuffed him, and took him away around 3 p.m. The agents also confiscated computers and cell phones that D'Anda used in his work. The government has not made public under which charges the journalist was detained, according to Nicaraguan news website Nicaragua Actual.
CPJ emailed the Nicaraguan police for comment but did not receive a reply.
Since 2018, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government has intensified its targeted aggressions against dissenting voices, including journalists, amid ongoing civil protests. Between 2018 and 2023, 49 media outlets were closed, according to a report signed by CPJ and eight other organizations, that was submitted to the UN's Universal Periodic Review of Nicaragua in 2024.