President Juan Orlando Hernández, who secured a second term in 2017, has stepped up control over news and information and taken a range of initiatives to silence the most outspoken journalists. The security forces, especially the military police and army, are responsible for most of the abuses and violence against media personnel. The situation of the media has worsened steadily for more than a decade, ever since the 2009 coup d’état. In this country racked by violence, organized crime and corruption, the impunity rate is among the highest in the western hemisphere. Journalists working for opposition media or community media are often the target of death threats or violence or are forced to flee abroad. They are also often the targets of abusive judicial proceedings, and prison sentences for defamation are common, sometimes accompanied by bans on working as a journalist after release.