At least 374 journalists in exile and 405 media outlets closed: freedom of the press in Venezuela?

“In Venezuela, I want to point out that there is a much greater freedom of expression than here.” With these words, the communist deputy Carmen Hertz sparked the debate about the situation in Venezuela and freedom of the press for journalists, just one month after the presidential elections, where the electoral authorities confirmed the victory of Nicolás Maduro in the midst of numerous accusations of fraud by the opposition and a large part of the international community, including President Gabriel Boric, who called the Chavista regime a “dictatorship.”

In dialogue with the program From the Editorial Office of The ThirdThe parliamentarian said that in the Caribbean country “there are opposition newspapers, which is not the case here. Here the media are hegemonic, with a single editorial line, and the independent media are basically streaming platforms.”

Freedom of the press

Hertz’s words had an immediate impact, especially considering the numerous reports and testimonies that show cases of persecution of Venezuelan press workers, to the point that many of them have had to leave the country. In addition, several emblematic media outlets have been blocked by the dictatorship and have even had to operate abroad.

The reality is at least worrying. According to the latest press freedom ranking for 2024 prepared by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Venezuela is ranked 156th out of 180 countries. In Latin America, it is only ahead of Nicaragua (163rd) and Cuba (168th).

According to RSFSince Maduro came to power in 2013, “government measures against media pluralism have intensified.”

“Due to the government’s monopoly on imports of paper and printing supplies, the paper editions of hundreds of newspapers have disappeared across the country. Through an opaque policy of granting and revoking radio licenses, the authorities have forced the closure of 200 radio stations. In addition, the Venezuelan government continues to block news content on the Internet,” the NGO added.

Added to this are other factors, such as the approval of the controversial “Law against Hate” which has allowed some 80 Venezuelans to be sanctioned, including 17 journalists and media outlets, mainly for criticizing influential figures in the country, especially on social media, RSF said.

Persecutions and lack of pluralism

“Press freedom in Venezuela is currently experiencing its darkest moment, its greatest decline and its reduction to a minimum, and this is being reflected in a society that lives threatened by opacity, by lack of transparency, by the precariousness in which journalists live,” he said in May 2023. Voice of America the executive director of the Institute for Press and Society (IPYS) Venezuela, Marianela Balbi.

A little over a year has passed and the situation has not improved. According to the annual IPYS report published in March, between January and December 2023, 233 cases were recorded, totaling 349 violations of the freedom of information of press workers and human rights defenders.

“These grievances were physical or verbal attacks (95), acts of stigmatizing speech (72), internet restrictions (58), limitations on access to information (43), acts of censorship (33), administrative restrictions (30), acts of judicial harassment (15) and on three occasions the transversal gender alert indicator was recorded,” the organization stated in the document.

In the category of verbal attacks, the report highlighted the vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and now the new Minister of the Interior and Justice, Diosdado Cabello, who on his television program With the hammer hitting He has free rein to insult whoever crosses his path, including international authorities such as President Boric or media workers.

«On air, Cabello called the director of a digital media outlet a sycophant; she read letters from alleged informants accusing journalist Ibéyise Pacheco and the director of El Nacional, Miguel Henrique Otero, of giving strength to ‘a new campaign against the regime’; and the Communications Coordinator of Vente Venezuela, the political party of leader María Corina Machado, Claudia Macero, of ‘managing a communications machine to destroy the reputation of anyone who does not agree with the plans’ of the opposition leader,» the document denounced.

The report also highlighted that during the past year, 215 press workers and 99 media outlets faced information restrictions by the Maduro government, including 15 radio stations that were closed.

More than 400 media outlets closed

The recent closure of 15 radio stations, as well as the cessation of the online television channel VPITV in January, are just examples of the sustained persecution by the Chavista government. According to data from the NGO Espacio Público, in the last 20 years Venezuela has witnessed the closure of more than 400 media outlets, including print newspapers, radio stations, television channels and digital platforms.

“These closures were carried out by the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel), who sometimes acted in conjunction with security forces. In most cases, the officials claimed that the radio stations were operating clandestinely, as their legal status was not in accordance with the law,” the organization said.

According to the media outlet El Nacional, between 2008 and 2023, the authorities have closed 405 media outlets. According to this count, the closures intensified during the Maduro government, which has closed at least 123 media outlets in the last two years alone.

The most emblematic case is the closure of the RCTV channel in 2007 after 57 years of uninterrupted broadcasting. “There will be no new concession for that coup-monger television channel called Radio Caracas Television! The concession is coming to an end and the measure has already been drafted,” said the then president Hugo Chávez months earlier.

Closing of the press

Eleven years later, the press suffered another major blow after the closure of the printed edition of the newspaper. The Nationalmainly due to the multiple restrictions imposed by the State on the sale of paper, a business that it completely controlled. Since then, the newspaper has published its work online. However, the persecution is such that it now finds itself operating from abroad.

All these events have had an impact on pluralism. Espacio Público stressed that the lack of independent or opposition media has been felt above all in the interior of the country. Without going any further, there are 13 states that do not have independent media: Amazonas, Apure, Aragua, Barinas, Cojedes, Delta Amacuro, Falcón, Guárico, Mérida, Monagas, Portuguesa, Sucre and Trujillo.

This control of the media by the ruling party was also evident in the last presidential campaign, when television channels covered all of Nicolás Maduro’s events and one of them even broadcast a talent show to find a campaign jingle for the president. Nothing was seen of the massive rallies of the opposition leader Edmundo González.

These irregularities have also made things difficult for journalists. According to IPYS, there are at least 374 professionals in exile, who decided to leave the country for various reasons. The majority, according to the entity, emigrated between 2016 and 2020, the years of greatest shortage of food and basic necessities in Venezuela.

“Many journalists end up leaving their profession because of fears for their safety or that of their families in their home country and because of the difficulties they face in surviving financially and overcoming the many challenges of living in a foreign country. Exile thus becomes another way of silencing critical voices, another form of censorship against the press,” the group said.

The case of Braulio Jatar, a Chilean-Venezuelan journalist, who in 2016 was arrested by Chavista security forces after publishing a series of videos of an activity by Maduro on Margarita Island, where protesters approached him and banged pots and pans to demand his departure from power, is well-remembered. The official story said that the Chilean-born reporter was arrested for money laundering, after large sums of money were found in his vehicle.

After more than two years in prison, Jatar was released. Since then, the journalist has been living in Chile.

Obstacles to foreigners

But it is not only local journalists who have suffered restrictions. According to the Press and Society Institute, the foreign press also experienced limitations during coverage of the presidential election on July 28.

In order to be accredited and work in Venezuela, foreign reporters had to send an application responding to a series of requirements such as a letter from the director or editor of the media outlet where they work, a copy of their passports and a brief resume of the applicant.

“The period of just nine days established for the accreditation of foreign correspondents and special envoys was very short and many foreign journalists interested in coming to Venezuela and covering the electoral process were excluded. In this way, the possibility of the foreign press serving as an alternative source of information was diminished,” denounced IPYS.

Added to this is the “escalation of verbal attacks” by the Maduro government, which even called on foreign media to denounce the alleged “coup d’état” of which it would be the victim.

At least 11 media professionals – including Chileans Iván Núñez and José Luis Tapia – were detained and deported by Venezuelan authorities, who prevented them from working.

The data is there for all to see. The persecution is likely to continue as long as Maduro remains in power.