Nicaragua celebrates National Journalist Day yet its press freedom is nearly extinct
Nicaragua’s National Journalist Day, celebrated on 1 March is a shameful farce as Daniel Ortega's government has almost annihilated the country’s independent journalism. Four journalists have been detained in the last year, three of them forcibly disappeared, and hundreds have gone into exile. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urgently calls on the international community to intervene and demands Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s regime end their persecution of the press.
National Journalist Day, observed on 1 March, is meant to honour press freedom. Instead, it serves as a stark reminder of the relentless oppression independent journalists face under Daniel Ortega’s government. According to RSF monitoring, four Nicaraguan journalists have been arrested by state agents in the last 12 months, and the fate and whereabouts of three of them are unknown to this day.
The situation is terrifying and many independent journalists have stopped working out of fear. Those under house arrest are unable to report on their situation due to threats against them and their families. The regime expelled at least 46 journalists in the last year, according to RSF partner Foundation for Freedom of Expression and Democracy (FLED). These actions are part of a deliberate strategy to silence independent reporting and control the public’s access to information.
“What should be a day of celebration for Nicaraguan journalists is marked by repression, exile and enforced disappearances. While hundreds have fled the country, others face imprisonment or are still missing after being targeted by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s regime. Their crackdown has silenced the independent press and keeps those still resisting in Nicaragua under threat. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges the international community to pressure the regime to release the country’s detained journalists communicate the fate and whereabouts of those who have disappeared, and instate guarantees for press freedom in the country.
Arrests and enforced disappearances in 2024
The most recent case is Irving Guerrero Montes, 65, a former correspondent for Radio Corporación and tv channel Canal 23. On 9 February — mere weeks before National Journalist Day — he was arrested at his home in the city of León by the Nicaraguan National Police. The journalist, who had a long career in local reporting, spent three days in prison and is now under house arrest, awaiting trial for allegedly not having the proper documentation for the weapon.
The fact that Irving Guerrero Montes is retired was no deterrent for the regime: In Nicaragua, retired journalists, especially ones who had long career or senior positions, are particular targets. According to local organisations, the government is trying to “repel” what is left of journalism inside the country, attacking those who were once part of the independent press. Another of the journalists detained in the past year, Leo Cárcamo Herrera, 61, a former correspondent for Radio Darío, was arrested by state agents in November 2024. His whereabouts are currently unknown, which led the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) to extend the provisional measures in favour of Leo Cárcamo Herrera and his family on 2 January 2025, reinforcing the duty of the State of Nicaragua to guarantee their integrity. The Court warned that, due to his age and health problems, the journalist faces a high risk if detained.
Elsbeth D'Anda, who was arbitrarily detained on 27 October 2024 after addressing the rising cost of living in Nicaragua on his television programme on the channel CDNN 23, is also on this list of victims. His arrest, carried out without a warrant, included the search of her home and the confiscation of her equipment. The regime then tried to link him to drug offences and illegal possession of weapons, a common tactic used to justify the persecution of critical journalists. The journalist's fate and whereabouts are still unknown.
Another alarming case is that of Fabiola Tercero Castro, an independent journalist and feminist activist whose fate and whereabouts have been unknown since 12 July 2024, when the police raided her home. Neither she nor her family have been seen since.
No recourse except exile
Since 2020, the Nicaraguan government has criminalised independent journalism through repressive laws, mass surveillance, and forced exile. The Cybercrime Law punishes critical reporting, while the Foreign Agents Law restricts media funding. This has led to not just arbitrary arrests and dissapearances, but banishment. In one high-profile example, journalist Valeria Sánchez, a well-known Nicaraguan television presenter, received an email from the airline denying her re-entry on 30 June 2024, 24 hours before her departure. She was returning from a trip to Miami and was stopped by the immigration control of the Directorate of Migration and Foreigners when she tried to board.
More often, however, it is journalists inside the country who are forced to leave. In April 2023, Víctor Ticay was jailed for covering a religious event and later exiled. In November 2024, Henry Briceño and his family were forcibly expelled to Costa Rica, losing their businesses and home. His 11-year-old son became the youngest Nicaraguan child to be exiled and dispossessed by the regime. They were just two of the over 300 journalists exiled from Nicaragua - according to the human rights collective Nicaragua Nunca Más -, a country on the brink of risks losing its independent press entirely.
