Know who you're trusting. Use secure communication channels. Don't be too obvious.
That's part of the advice that Venezuelan editors in exile and press freedom advocates are giving to their colleagues to avoid being detained for reporting on the most delicate moment in the country's recent history.
Venezuelan journalist and security consultant Luis Carlos Díaz, who himself was detained in 2019, has been advising other journalists to communicate only with people they fully trust, to be selective about which stories they go out to cover, and that, when they do, they try to blend in as ordinary citizens and not as journalists.
César Batiz, the exiled director of news outlet El Pitazo, is also telling his colleagues to limit their outings. And Luz Mely Reyes, the exiled director of the news outlet Efecto Cocuyo, said that she is the only public face of her organization, which does not publish the names of any of its contributors.
“We have all based ourselves on one principle,” Reyes told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR). “No story, no matter how important, is worth the life of one of us.”
In the days since the U.S. military operation that captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, at least 16 media workers have been detained, and independent journalists in the country are on high alert to avoid being next.
Following the operation, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would “run” Venezuela. Given the uncertainty surrounding the agreements between what’s left of the regime in Venezuela and the U.S., Díaz said the "stability" that the Chavista government is expected to maintain could lead to increased repression.
“Our fear is that the United States will not bring up issues of human rights, the release of political prisoners, or freedom of expression,” Díaz told LJR. “We don't know if that is a priority for them, we don't know if that is part of the conditions they will impose on this government.”
On Jan. 5, the day Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president of Venezuela, 14 journalists were detained. Thirteen were affiliated with international media outlets and agencies, and one worked for a national media outlet, according to the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP, for its Spanish acronym) of Venezuela. All of them were later released without charge, although one of them was deported, the organization added.
The detentions took place during a state of emergency declared by Venezuelan authorities on Jan. 3. The decree orders security forces to capture “any person involved in promoting or supporting the armed attack of the U.S. against the Republic.”
So far, the journalists who were detained have preferred to stay anonymous, Díaz said. However, freedom expression organization Espacio Público said the deported journalist was Stefano Pozzebon from CNN.
Díaz said the detentions are in line with crimes committed systematically by the regime in recent years.
“The fact that they are released on the same day doesn't mean there are no State crimes,” Díaz said. “They are taken to unknown locations. Their colleagues and family members can't find them at enlistment centers, or the State denies knowing their whereabouts. They are subjected to enforced disappearance and have been subjected to interrogations or mistreatment, to put it mildly.”
In addition to the detentions that occurred during Rodríguez's swearing-in ceremony, on Jan. 4, two journalists were detained for several hours while covering security operations on the border between Colombia and Venezuela.
One of them was journalist Luis Carlos Vélez from Univision Noticias, who reported on his social media accounts and in the news outlet itself that he and his team were not only detained, but their documents and phones were searched and journalistic material was deleted.
“These detentions reflect an effort to intimidate the press and block independent reporting,” José Carlos Zamora. director for the Americas of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), told LJR. “Venezuelan authorities must end surveillance and arbitrary arrests and guarantee journalists can work freely and safely.”
Thirty-eight human rights organizations from Latin America, including CPJ, published a joint statement on the situation in Venezuela, urging respect for human rights and press freedom during Venezuela's “transition.”
In their statement, the organizations denounced "the military attack by the United States against multiple targets in Venezuela," which “openly violates international law and sets a dangerous precedent throughout the region.”
The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) issued its own statement regarding the events and arrests of journalists and urged the country's authorities "to “cease any actions that limit the exercise of press freedom.”
It also demanded that due process be guaranteed for detained journalists and that international standards regarding human rights and freedom of expression be respected.
Díaz said that Jan. 5 and the preceding week have been among the "worst" for journalism. He identified three areas of repression against reporters during these past few days.
The first is the Venezuelan border in the Colombian city of Cúcuta. This city, to which journalists from around the world have arrived to try to cross the border, has a presence not only of Colombian armed and criminal groups such as the ELN guerrilla group, but also of the Venezuelan intelligence service (Sebin), the so-called colectivos (civilians armed by the Venezuelan government itself) and the Tren de Aragua gang.
Journalist groups were expelled from Venezuela, and others who were in Cúcuta were harassed and threatened, Díaz said.
In Caracas, Altamira Square —traditionally associated with anti-Chávez protests— and the area surrounding the Legislative Palace were the other two focal points of repression. In Altamira, for example, a journalist was harassed by colectivos and was later among those arrested, Díaz said.
“What the United Nations investigated in Venezuela is that the pattern of crimes against humanity, which include detentions, disappearances and all of this, are directed against political dissidents and people perceived as dissidents,” Díaz said. “That term is important because it explains why Chavismo detains human rights defenders, journalists, political dissidents and even disaffected Chavistas. Anyone perceived as disloyal is a threat, and Chavismo detains them.”
These recent detentions once again put the spotlight on the 20 journalists who were already detained in the country.
Not all of them were detained while working as journalists, but they were all carrying out communication-related tasks. Among the most serious cases are those of Nakary Ramos and her husband Gianni González, who worked as her cameraman, arrested in April 2025. Both were accused of inciting hatred and publishing false news for producing a report asking residents about the increase in crime in Caracas.
Rory Branker of La Patilla is also currently imprisoned. The journalist was missing for months before anyone knew where he was being held. His brother and mother were able to visit him on one occasion, but after a prison transfer, his current whereabouts are unknown, Díaz said.
“Nobody knows where he is, and he has never been brought to trial. That is, Rory has never been taken to court, and he hasn't been charged with anything,” Díaz said. “Among the irregularities that exist in Venezuela, this also happens: they deny you due process and the right to a defense.”
