Relatives of Exiled Journalists Harassed in Nicaragua
Exiled journalists and their families in Nicaragua face harassment, smear campaigns, and threats, warns a report.
HAVANA TIMES – The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, together with “their network of fanatics,” has intensified the “harassment and retaliation” in Nicaragua against the families of exiled journalists, according to a report by the Foundation for Freedom of Expression and Democracy (FLED).
The quarterly report, which analyzes attacks on press freedom between April and June 2025, states that the regime has “extended its threats to press freedom regardless of the geographical location of journalists—if they are abroad, it targets their family environments.”
The document includes the testimony of a journalist exiled in the United States since 2023, who reports that her family, still living in Nicaragua, “was subjected to surveillance by armed civilians linked to the Sandinista party.”
The incident, which took place on April 10, 2025, involved “acts of harassment and intimidation around the family home, causing a severe emotional toll on her relatives.”
“This act of intimidation is interpreted by the journalist as retaliation for her professional work in exile. Although she is no longer in Nicaraguan territory, she believes the government’s actions aim to indirectly punish her reporting by pressuring those closest to her,” FLED warns.
Another act of intimidation was reported anonymously by a journalist exiled in 2023, who said that during April 2025 “surveillance of her family in Nicaragua intensified.”
The journalist stated that Sandinista fanatics watched her family home, creating an atmosphere of fear and insecurity. She added that the situation even forced her to abandon efforts to obtain a passport for her daughter out of fear of retaliation, the report explains.
“Hostile Visits” and Intimidating Messages
Another exiled journalist reported that her family, who live in a rural community in Nicaragua, received “hostile visits” from regime supporters.
In June 2025, a journalist collaborating with a digital media outlet in exile reported being the target of a campaign of “systematic threats directed at both her and her family.”
She revealed that she has received “intimidating messages containing precise details about her home, her children’s whereabouts, and their daily routines.”
FLED’s report notes that an increasing number of Nicaraguan journalists continue reporting on the country’s reality from exile, which exposes them and their families to both physical and digital threats.
“The threats she has received fit into a documented pattern of harassment against those who practice journalism in a critical and independent manner,” the report states.
40 Press Freedom Violations
Between April and June 2025, FLED recorded at least 40 violations of press freedom in Nicaragua, 28 of which occurred in the digital sphere.
They note that the shift of attacks to the digital realm reflects how “the physical presence of journalism in the country is becoming increasingly limited.”
“As exile and forced silence reduce on-the-ground reporting, harassment campaigns, threats, and attacks are increasingly moving to digital platforms, where control and surveillance are also intensifying,” the report says.
The organization stresses that the number of documented cases does not reflect the full extent of the attacks occurring in the country because “fear remains a barrier that prevents many journalists from reporting what they experience.”
Between April and June—when the anniversaries of many of the 2018 civic protests are commemorated—the regime “intensified its campaign to stigmatize independent journalism.”
Fear After the Murder of Roberto Samcam
The murder of Roberto Samcam, a retired army major, who was gunned down in his San José, Costa Rica home on Thursday, June 19, 2025, has raised alarm among exiled Nicaraguan journalists, especially those residing in Costa Rica.
FLED asserts that this crime “has been interpreted by many as a direct warning to those who, from exile, continue to practice journalism or report on human rights violations in Nicaragua.”
“Far from being an isolated incident, the crime has triggered alarms about the possibility that repression could extend beyond national borders and endanger those who have chosen to keep reporting on human rights violations in Nicaragua,” they warn.
Journalists Abandon the Profession Out of Fear
FLED documented the forced exile of four journalists between April and June 2025, bringing the total number of journalists forced to leave Nicaragua since 2018 to 293—something they say “confirms the persistent persecution of critical media.”
The report details that constant surveillance of journalists’ families, police harassment during reporting, and direct retaliation have forced many to shift their coverage to safer, community-based topics, while others have chosen to leave the profession entirely.
“This form of censorship, combined with numerous barriers to accessing information, is pushing many journalists to seek alternative sources of income, often meaning they must temporarily or permanently leave journalism behind,” the report laments.
First published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.