In Venezuela, restrictions and self-censorship limit coverage of opposition ahead of election
Antonio Di Giampaolo has hosted his popular radio news program En el Aire, Spanish for “On the Air,” for nearly 40 years. On May 17, Di Giampaolo planned to broadcast an interview with opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González, but executives at the station Éxitos 93.1 FM in the western city of Maracay nixed the plan with no explanation, according to the journalist. “I had…
Venezuelan authorities detain, charge environmental journalist Luis Alejandro Acosta
Editor’s note: The Venezuela Press Workers Union posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on September 21, that government authorities placed journalist Luis Alejandro Acosta on probation with a 15-day reporting schedule, a ban on publishing information about his arrest, and the obligation to request permission to leave the country. Bogotá, September 14, 2023—Venezuelan authorities must immediately…
Mapping Venezuela’s shrinking radio landscape
Mapping Venezuela’s shrinking radio landscape Venezuelans navigate an information desert amid COVID-19, humanitarian & political crises By CPJ Central & South America staff and Coral Negrón, CPJ Patti Birch Fellow for Data Journalism As the COVID-19 pandemic spread rapidly around the world, few countries were already in such a state of humanitarian crisis as Venezuela….
Venezuelan authorities detain Wilmer Quintana for Facebook posts under anti-hate law
Miami, August 12, 2019—The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed alarm at the use of Venezuela’s Anti-Hate Law for Tolerance and Peaceful Coexistence to jail journalist Wilmer Quintana García. Quintana was arrested for several posts published on his personal Facebook page alleging corruption in the provision of public services in Guárico state, according to a…
Venezuelan police detain reporter Danilo Gil while covering protests, charge him with resisting authority
On March 30, 2019, police from Lagunillas, a municipality in Zulia state, beat and detained journalist Danilo Alberto Gil, a reporter for Venezuelan news outlet NotiRedVe–which operates on Twitter and Facebook–at around 9:30 a.m., while he was covering an opposition protest in the town of Ciudad Ojeda, according to posts on Twitter by NotiRedVe, local…
Venezuela’s intimidation tactics include arbitrary arrests, deportation
When Venezuelan military officials detained American freelancer Cody Weddle on March 11, the experience was both frightening and bizarre. Weddle said that agents put a hood over his head and pressed him to reveal sources he had never spoken with. They suggested the reporter was a member of the CIA and would be charged with…
Lawsuits and economic crisis drive Venezuela’s journalists into exile
When Ewald Scharfenberg, the founding editor of the Venezuelan investigative news website Armando.Info, holds editorial meetings, he pulls out his mobile phone. That’s because most of his reporters are in Venezuela while Scharfenberg lives and works in neighboring Colombia.
Journalists covering Venezuela protests harassed, attacked, and news websites blocked
New York, April 12, 2017–Venezuelan authorities should ensure that journalists can cover protests safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Several reporters have been detained, injured, or had equipment seized while covering ongoing protests over a Supreme Court ruling to strip the opposition-led National Assembly of its lawmaking powers, according to news reports and…
Journalists attacked, equipment stolen during protests in Caracas
New York, June 3, 2016–Several journalists were attacked and some had equipment stolen while covering protests in Caracas Thursday, according to news outlets and a local freedom of expression group. Some of the journalists who were attacked said that the Venezuelan National Guard did not intervene to prevent the attacks and in one case, forced…
Venezuelan editor sentenced to 4 years in prison for criminal defamation
Bogotá, Colombia, March 11, 2016–A Venezuelan judge today sentenced David Natera Febres, the editor of an independent newspaper that investigated corruption at a state-run mining company, to four years in prison for criminal defamation, according to news reports.