More than 900 Latin American journalists have been forced to leave their home countries in recent years. For many, they are symbols of the deterioration of democracy in the region.
As part of the University of Texas at Austin's International Education Week, leading journalists from three of the most affected countries will share their experiences of reporting in exile as part of a special virtual panel organized by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas.
“Voices in Exile: Journalism, Resistance, & Resilience in Latin America” will be livestreamed on Nov. 18, from 9:30 - 10:45 am US CST. Registration is required and free.
Speakers are Luz Mely Reyes, co-founder of Efecto Cocuyo of Venezuela; Carlos Fernando Chamorro, founder of Confidencial of Nicaragua; and César Castro Fagoaga, co-founder of Revista Factum of El Salvador.
The three will discuss their work from exile as well as the challenges of staying connected to their home countries and the role of journalism in defending democracy.
Repression, harassment and job insecurity
A recent study from the Latin American Network of Journalism in Exile (RELPEX, for its initials in Spanish) found journalists in Latin America have gone into exile due to structural problems of political repression, criminalization of independent journalism and job insecurity. They’re facing political and legal persecution; false accusations; harassment and intimidation from police and from strangers online; seizure and closure of media outlets; and economic precarity once in exile.
“This situation reveals the deterioration of human rights, but also the direct impact on freedom of expression and on the possibility of societies to access free and truthful information,” the study said.
Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, are the three countries in Latin America from which most journalists have been forced to leave, according to a report that analyzes exiled journalists in the region from 2018 to 2024.
More than half (477) of the 913 journalists in exile documented by the study are from Venezuela.
Reyes points to data from her own research study “Te tienes que ir” (You have to leave) and the Press and Society Institute of Venezuela for the fundamental reasons people are leaving: restrictions on practicing journalism, as well as the political, social and economic crisis in the country.
Outlets seized and shut down
In Nicaragua, the recent wave of exile dates back to 2018 when protests against the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo began. Repression, including of journalists, immediately followed.
Chamorro said this led to media outlets being confiscated and seized, TV channels being censored, journalists being imprisoned, and press freedom being criminalized.
His own media outlet, Confidencial, was taken over by the National Police in December 2018. The government again raided Confidencial’s temporary editorial offices in May 2021. Chamorro went into exile that year and the Nicaraguan government declared him “stateless” in 2023.
And although the number of exiled journalists from El Salvador is smaller than either Venezuela or Nicaragua, more professionals (and even media outlets) are leaving due to increased repression.
Threat of imprisonment and financial instability
Castro Fagoaga highlighted three major threats to journalism in El Salvador: threat of imprisonment under a state of exception that was declared in 2022, economic precarity due to the approval of the Foreign Agents Law that restricts foreign funding for media outlets and independent organizations, and an information blackout due to the number of journalists leaving the country.
“It's a reality, unfortunately palpable, that right now, after the departure of dozens of journalists from El Salvador, the number of investigative reports has decreased,” Castro Fagoaga told LJR. “It's not just journalism that loses, society loses. Attacking press freedom is attacking a fundamental right to freedom of expression for an entire country (even if people don't seem to realize it yet).”
Once abroad, exiled journalists and media outlets are faced with the new challenge of reporting on a far-removed reality.
“Doing journalism in exile is not impossible, but it is very complicated,” Castro Fagoaga said. “It's not just the obvious fact of being far away, which makes it impossible to verify certain situations, projects or other matters on-site; it's the complexity of doing journalism from exile under a regime that hides everything.”
He said access to public information or officials, and all counterweights to power are under the control of the presidency. This, he said, limits reporting and investigations.
“Despite the blockades, independent media outlets—such as El Faro, Factum, and Redacción Regional—continue to produce quality investigations,” he said. “However, they are far fewer than before. And that, in any country that once embraced democracy, is a silent tragedy.”
In exile and working odd jobs
In her research, Reyes said she’s found journalists who’ve developed strategies for covering Venezuela from exile, and others who work odd jobs to make a living but still report on home.
Still, she said there are exiled journalists who must take jobs in unrelated professions, like driving for Uber or other delivery services. In the U.S., some have joined Spanish-language outlets, but cannot report on issues related to Venezuela.
Chamorro said more than 20 digital media outlets from Nicaragua are operating from exile, mostly in Costa Rica, the U.S. and Spain.
“I would highlight the cases of Confidencial, 100% Noticias and La Prensa as examples of resilience and hope,” he told LJR. “These three media outlets were illegally confiscated by the regime in 2021 and continue to practice journalism from exile.”
Join the free virtual panel on Nov. 18 to hear more from the journalists about their experiences in exile and the potential for doing journalism in their home countries.
