Challenges facing journalists trying to cover latest violence in Venezuela
The long-running political crisis in Venezuela escalated on April 30, 2019, after a civilian and military uprising was thwarted by the government of Nicolás Maduro, according to news reports. Opposition leaders Juan Guaidó and Leopoldo Lopez, accompanied by members of the armed forces, congregated on a highway in eastern Caracas and called upon the armed…
Venezuelan authorities restrict internet, block outlets amid unrest
Miami, May 1, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Venezuelan authorities to refrain from restricting access to the internet, social media services, and news outlets in the country during widespread protests and political unrest.
Venezuelan police detain reporter Danilo Gil while covering protests, charge him with resisting authority
On March 30, 2019, police from Lagunillas, a municipality in Zulia state, beat and detained journalist Danilo Alberto Gil, a reporter for Venezuelan news outlet NotiRedVe–which operates on Twitter and Facebook–at around 9:30 a.m., while he was covering an opposition protest in the town of Ciudad Ojeda, according to posts on Twitter by NotiRedVe, local…
Venezuela’s intimidation tactics include arbitrary arrests, deportation
When Venezuelan military officials detained American freelancer Cody Weddle on March 11, the experience was both frightening and bizarre. Weddle said that agents put a hood over his head and pressed him to reveal sources he had never spoken with. They suggested the reporter was a member of the CIA and would be charged with…
Maduro’s internet blackout stifles news of Venezuela crisis
One of the world’s biggest news stories on March 4 was the daring return to Venezuela of opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaidó, who faced possible arrest by the authoritarian regime of Nicolás Maduro. But most Venezuelans were unable to follow his homecoming.
Venezuelan counterintelligence agents detain U.S. freelancer, Venezuelan fixer
Miami, March 6, 2019–Venezuelan authorities should immediately release a U.S. freelance journalist and a Venezuelan fixer who were detained after counterintelligence agents raided their homes this morning in Caracas, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Venezuelan authorities must return equipment to Jorge Ramos, Univision crew
Miami, February 26, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the detention yesterday of a Univision news team at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas and its expulsion today, and called on Venezuelan authorities to immediately return confiscated equipment.
CPJ Safety Advisory: Covering the political crisis in Venezuela
UPDATED: This safety advisory was updated on February 20, 2019. In response to disputed election results, Venezuelans from both sides have taken to the streets in recent weeks, according to news reports. The crisis began following the inauguration of President Nicolás Maduro to his second term on January 10, after an electoral process characterized by…
Lawsuits and economic crisis drive Venezuela’s journalists into exile
When Ewald Scharfenberg, the founding editor of the Venezuelan investigative news website Armando.Info, holds editorial meetings, he pulls out his mobile phone. That’s because most of his reporters are in Venezuela while Scharfenberg lives and works in neighboring Colombia.
Venezuela’s biggest daily, El Nacional, latest casualty of newsprint restrictions
New York, December 17, 2018–Venezuela’s biggest independent daily, El Nacional, printed its last edition on December 14, its editor and owner Miguel Henrique Otero announced. In an interview published in the paper, Otero, who manages the paper from self-imposed exile in Madrid, said that El Nacional would be available online only because of restrictions that…