Eight press freedom threats to watch ahead of Nicaragua’s presidential elections
On November 7, Nicaraguans are set to go to the polls to vote for president, the culmination of a campaign that has included the detention of opposition candidates, the banning of civil society organizations, and continued suppression of the country’s independent press. Nicaragua’s press freedom environment sharply deteriorated in 2018, when journalists covering protests against…
Prominent journalist Chamorro flees Nicaragua after threats, newsroom raid
Miami, January 22, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed grave concern about news that Carlos Fernando Chamorro, one of Nicaragua’s most prominent independent journalists, has fled the country. Chamorro announced on Twitter on January 20 that he fled to Costa Rica due to threats against him from the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
CPJ, international journalists express deep concern over deteriorating press freedom climate in Nicaragua, call for release of detained reporters
CPJ and more than 200 international journalists write to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to express deep concern over the recent escalation of aggression against media outlets and journalists covering civil unrest and documenting human rights abuses by police and paramilitary groups.
Nicaraguan police raid independent news organization, take equipment and documents
Bogotá, December 14, 2018–Nicaraguan police last night broke into one of the country’s few remaining independent news organizations and hauled away documents, computers, and TV cameras, according to news website Confidencial, which is one of the outlets affected, and other news reports.
Long silence from Nicaragua’s president as first lady keeps press at arm’s length
It’s been nearly 3,000 days since Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega last held a news conference, according to the opposition newspaper La Prensa. But when journalists complain about the lack of access to Ortega they often direct their ire not at the president but at the first lady, Rosario Murillo.
Reporters covering Nicaragua waterway project obstructed by lack of information
When Nicaragua began preliminary work on an interoceanic waterway designed to handle ships too big for the Panama Canal, some of the foreign correspondents who had flown in to cover the December groundbreaking were left high and dry.
Attacks on the Press 2009: Nicaragua
Top Developments• Ortega administration marginalizes private media.• Authorities use legal harassment, smears against critics. Key Statistic 0: Number of press conferences held by Ortega since taking office. Three decades after a revolution swept the Sandinistas into power, the government of President Daniel Ortega still cast private media as enemies and moved forcefully to curtail their influence.…
Tomás Eloy Martínez, passionate press freedom advocate
Argentine writer and journalist Tomás Eloy Martínez, who died on Monday after a long battle with cancer, was ranked among Latin America’s most prominent intellectuals. Best known for his novels about former President Juan Domingo Perón and his wife Eva, Martínez cared deeply about press freedom and was a passionate advocate who helped scores of Argentine…