Venezuela: PEN International calls for the release of journalists detained amid deepening crackdown
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“No society can thrive in silence. To persecute those who inform is to deny citizens their right to the truth. We demand the immediate release of detained Venezuelan journalists, an end to state harassment, and the restoration of their rights.” — Ma Thida, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.
1 August 2025: The freedom of expression and press freedom in Venezuela have severely deteriorated over the past year. The climate of censorship prevails in the country because of threats, harassment, arbitrary detentions, and enforced disappearances of journalists and media workers. Most of those detained face charges without access to a fair trial or independent legal defence.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), through ongoing monitoring, has documented wide-ranging freedom of expression violations, including arbitrary raids, violence during protests, the revocation of passports belonging to journalists and human rights defenders, extortion, censorship, stigmatisation, and threats by authorities. It has also reported the closure of radio stations, online censorship, and digital surveillance.
State-led efforts to silence dissent have forced journalists to adopt self-protection and self-censorship strategies. Many have been driven into exile, contributing to the worsening erosion of Venezuela’s independent media environment.
In the months leading up to and following the presidential elections of 28 July 2024 —which, according to the Carter Center, did not meet international standards and parameters for electoral integrity and cannot be considered democratic—, in which Nicolás Maduro was re-elected, violence against journalists escalated.
Since then, there have been multiple reports of attacks and detentions targeting members of the press. With support from the organisation Espacio Público, PEN International has documented the cases of at least eight journalists who have been detained or forcibly disappeared due to their journalistic work, or for expressing critical views of the authorities.
Ismael Gabriel González, journalist and member of the communications team of the ConVzla Campaign, was detained on 17 June 2024 in Caracas. He was detained without a warrant by agents of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) and transferred to El Helicoide detention centre. He is accused of ‘criminal association’ and ‘incitement to hatred’. He remains incommunicado and has not had access to independent legal counsel.
Luis López, journalist, was detained between 14 and 15 June 2024 by security agents. Earlier in June, López had condemned the editorial board of La Verdad de Vargas media outlet for removing him from his post due to ‘political pressure’. He was detained in Vargas state (northern Venezuela) while covering a protest in La Guaira. He was presented in a court that holds jurisdiction over terrorism cases and charged with ‘incitement to hatred’, ‘criminal association’, and ‘terrorism’. He is detained in El Helicoide detention centre.
Víctor Ugas, journalist known for his reporting on social media, was detained on 18 August 2024 following a verbal altercation with a pro-government influencer. He was formally charged with ‘incitement to hatred’. Ugas has not been afforded a fair trial or proper legal defence. He is currently held at Tocorón prison, where poor conditions have worsened his asthma, resulting in his hospitalisation from 4 to 6 February 2025.
Leocenis Manuel García Osorio, journalist, writer, and political activist, founder of the weekly news magazine 6to Poder, was detained on 11 September 2024 by SEBIN agents after posting a video on social media accusing the government of violating the Constitution following the 28 July presidential elections. This marks his fifth arbitrary arrest over his critical expression. According to Espacio Público, García Osorio is being held incommunicado at El Rodeo I, a detention centre in Miranda state under the control of the Directorate of Military Counterintelligence. In October 2024, the IACHR granted precautionary measures in favour of Leocenis Manuel García Osorio, in the belief that he faces a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to his rights. He has authored numerous articles, essays, and books, including Estamos Unidos (2022) and La Rebelión de los Tejones (2019), focused on politics and human rights.
Julio César Balza, journalist and member of the press team for opposition leader María Corina Machado, was intercepted on 9 January 2025 by SEBIN agents in Caracas following a protest in Chacao. According to his family, they have not received any information about his whereabouts, he remains in enforced disappearance, his legal status and location are unknown. The habeas corpus filed by his family was not accepted by the Venezuelan authorities.
Ángel Godoy, journalist and activist, was arbitrarily detained on 8 January 2025 by masked and unidentified individuals outside his home in Los Teques, Miranda state, according to his wife. Godoy is a human rights defender, director of the Democracy and Inclusion Movement (MDI), and a contributor to the news portal Punto de Corte. He is being held at El Helicoide, without access to due process.
Rory Branker, journalist, columnist, editor, and media analyst for outlets such as La Patilla, was detained on 20 February 2025 by SEBIN agents in Caracas. He was initially taken to El Helicoide detention centre; however, hours later, his family confirmed they lost contact with him and his whereabouts remain unknown. After the detention, authorities raided his home and seized two laptops and two mobile phones. Branker is being held without judicial guarantees or access to independent legal defence. On 26 February, Interior and Justice Minister Diosdado Cabello read a statement on his TV programme Con el mazo dando, claiming that Branker had been arrested for ‘extortion, spreading false information, and other crimes (...) to create anti-government narratives’. As of today, his location remains unknown, and he is considered to be in the custody of the Venezuelan state.
Nakary Mena Ramos, journalist of Impacto Venezuela was detained on 8 April 2025 along with her partner, Gianni González, after publishing a report on rising theft in Caracas. On 17 June 2025, a Caracas court upheld their preventive detention and ordered a trial on charges of ‘incitement to hatred’ and ‘publishing false news’. Nakary’s family reports that she suffers from scoliosis and previously underwent spinal surgery. At the detention centre, she is forced to sleep on a thin mat and suffers from severe pain.
PEN International calls on the Venezuelan authorities to:
Immediately and unconditionally release all journalists arbitrarily detained for carrying out their journalistic duties and exercising their right to freedom of expression.
End the use of judicial and intelligence institutions to criminalise journalism and repress freedom of expression.
Repeal the deeply draconian ‘Anti-Hate Law’, which has been weaponised to silence critical expression, resulting in widespread freedom of expression violations.
For more information, please contact Alicia Quiñones, Head of the Americas Region, at PEN International, email: [email protected]
For media queries, please contact Sabrina Tucci, PEN International Communications and Campaigns Manager, [email protected]