Nicaragua Newspaper Staff Flee Country as Daniel Ortega Cracks Down on Independent Media
La Prensa, one of Nicaragua's leading newspapers, has reported that its staff has been forced to flee the country. They are now reporting from outside the country. INTI OCON/AFP via Getty Images

The Nicaraguan government under president Daniel Ortega has become infamous for its crackdown on opposition parties and their members. However, they are also going after independent media, forcing many journalists to flee the country, much like the opposition leaders currently in exile.

La Prensa, one of the country's leading newspapers, has reported that its staff has been forced to flee the country. They are now reporting from outside abroad, according to an article on their official website.

Staff members who have fled the country include journalists, editors, photographers, and other personnel. They fled the country because they feared for their safety and freedom.

Nicaraguan Authorities Arrested Two La Prensa Employees After Report on Expulsion of Nuns

Earlier this month, Nicaraguan authorities arrested two of the newspaper's employees. This came after La Prensa reported on the expulsion of nuns from Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity order.

This would be the latest action by the Nicaraguan government against the newspaper, following their raid into the offices of La Prensa last August.

During the raid, they also arrested the newspaper's general manager, Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro, who remains jailed to this day. His two cousins, fellow journalists Cristiana Chamorro and Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Barrios, are under arrest.

Carlos Fernando Chamorro, another of Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro's cousins, fled the country and is now in exile. The government seized his offices for the independent news site Confidencial in December 2018.

The Associated Press noted that Cristiana, Pedro Joaquín, and Carlos Fernando are all siblings. They are the children of former President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro and the former director of La Prensa, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal. Their father was assassinated in 1978.

According to the Associated Press, Daniel Ortega's government has now shut down over 1,000 civil society organizations and went after independent news outlets.

Ortega's administration is pursuing any organization it deems a threat, and independent news organizations which have published scathing articles against him are one of them. The forced exile of La Prensa staff had gotten plenty of criticism directed at the Ortega administration.

Daniel Ortega's Media Crackdown intensified in 2018

According to Amnesty International, "Nicaragua has become a grim example of how quickly press freedom can be eroded, with journalists threatened, criminalized, and attacked for doing their jobs."

The crackdown on the media, as well as members of the opposition, started after massive street protests erupted in April 2018. The Ortega government violently suppressed these protests immediately.

However, following the protests, the suppression intensified. Journalists reported that they repeatedly get followed and harassed by paramilitary elements. One of the most well-known attacks was on reporter ángel Gahona in April 2018. He was the director of the local news program El Meridiano and was live-streaming when he was shot. His killing is still unsolved.

Earlier this month, government forces occupied and deposed many municipal mayors who were part of the opposition party. Now, all municipal mayors either belong to Ortega's party or are allied with them.

The government deemed the opposition party known as Citizens Alliance for Liberty Party (CXL) as illegal, and its leader, Kitty Monterrey, is in exile. The Ortega government also revoked her citizenship.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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