"Carlos Dada is one of the most respected Latin American journalists worldwide, but he can’t practice journalism in his own country.
Founder and editor-in-chief of the Salvadoran newspaper El Faro, Dada now lives in exile. Harassment by President Nayib Bukele forced El Faro to move its headquarters to Costa Rica, and Dada and his colleagues to leave as well.As a reporter, Dada has written excellent feature stories like this long article, which sheds light on the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero, a murder which shook El Salvador in March 1980 and was the prologue to the country’s civil war (1980-1992).
As the leader of El Faro, Dada has edited and published dozens of investigations that have exposed the corruption of governments of all colours, and their negotiations with gang leaders who have murdered thousands of Salvadorans since the end of the civil war.This brave and rigorous work has earned Dada countless accolades, from the Maria Moors Cabot Prize from Columbia University in 2011 to the World Press Freedom Hero award from the International Press Institute in 2022. Unfortunately, it has also led to him being spied on by his own government and receiving death threats, in an episode that affected most of his newsroom."
