QCOSTARICA — According to the Costa Rica based Fundación por la Libertad de Expresión y Democracia (FLED) – Foundation for Freedom of Expression and Democracy – report the majority of traditional media in Nicaragua avoid covering the activities of Miss Universe, Nicaraguan Sheynnis Palacios.
“As part of FLED’s media monitoring, we were able to verify that outlets that still operate in their analog version in Nicaragua –both radio and television– are not covering any of the activities of the Miss Universe organization,” stated the report.
FLED members include former Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation members which ceased operations in Nicaragua in February 2021 due to the implementation of the Law for the Regulation of Foreign Agents, which penalizes individuals and organizations that receive financial support from sources abroad.
FLED stated that the crowning of Sheynnis Palacios as Miss Universe is a significant achievement for Nicaragua in the realm of beauty pageants. This news is considered noteworthy and deserving of coverage in the press to provide a well-rounded and diverse range of information.
Sheynnis Palacios is the first Nicaraguan and Central American to be crowned Miss Universe, on November 18, 2023, in El Salvador.
Nicaragua media outlets like Confidencial, operating from exile, are the only ones reporting on the activities of Sheynnis Palacios.
Palacios, who has not returned to Nicaragua since being crowned, has traveled to San José, Costa Rica, and Miami, United States, where there are significant Nicaraguan expatriate communities, among other cities fulfilling her obligations with the international pageant franchise.
When Palacios won the pageant, a large number of Nicaraguans gathered in the streets throughout the country, holding blue and white flags to commemorate the victory of the young beauty queen. Similar demonstrations had not been witnessed in Nicaragua since 2018 when peaceful protests were prohibited by the dictatorship.
In the days following the crowning of Palacios, the government of Daniel Ortega began targeting the leaders of the Miss Nicaragua organization, including the banning of Karen Celebertti, the director at the time, from entering Nicaragua and accusing her of conspiracy and treason.
“This new behavior is similar to that of pro-government media” in Nicaragua, observed FLED, which also said that they were able to verify that in seven of Nicaragua’s 15 provinces and two autonomous regions, “there is no independent journalistic practice.”
“This situation is of great concern in a context where pro-government media outlets are the only ones disseminating information. Citizens have less and less access to independent information about the problems that affect their communities and that might be in contrast to that of the political power groups,” FLED warned.
As of March 2024, some 251 journalists, communicators, editors, and other media professionals, have been forced to leave Nicaragua, according to the report. While others, such as yours truly, the editor of QCOSTARICA, have been denied entry into Nicaragua.
