World Press Freedom Day: ‘There is a process of absolute total criminalisation of freedom of the press, of freedom of expression’ in Nicaragua, says Carlos Chamorro
Carlos Fernando Chamorro , the founder and director of Nicaraguan media outlet Confidencial, fled that country, along with his entire newsroom, in 2021 because of the criminalisation of all forms of independent journalism by the country’s ruling regime.
Mr Chamorro’s father, Pedro, was the editor of an opposition newspaper in Nicaragua during the Somoza regime, and his assassination in 1978 was one of the factors that led to its overthrow. Carlos Chamorro was a supporter of Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista National Liberation Front, which replaced the Somoza regime during the 1980s and continued to support it in 1990 when his mother, Violeta, contested the presidential elections and beat Ortega.
“You have two options: you go to prison or you continue to do journalism in exile. This is what we did ... Our minds, our ears are in Nicaragua, and it is very difficult, because not only are journalists criminalised, but so also are our sources, so we have to protect our sources. You cannot attribute information to independent sources, that is also a crime.”
Readers and viewers in Nicaragua can privately access content from independent news outlets located abroad, but what they cannot do is discuss the content publicly, particularly on social media. “That has become a crime.”
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