Nicaraguan journalists in Costa Rica warn of transnational repression

At least seven Nicaraguan journalists living in exile in Costa Rica have reported surveillance and threats, according to a statement issued by the Collective of Human Rights for the Historical Memory of Nicaragua on International Journalists’ Day.

The reported incidents included surveillance operations near journalists’ homes, harassment on social media, calls from unknown numbers, the disclosure of private information and intimidation in public spaces. The group said some exiled journalists had even been warned by Costa Rican authorities about serious risks to their lives and safety. One documented case forced a journalist to leave Costa Rica urgently.

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Some type of transnational repression

Salvador Marenco, a Nicaraguan exile and lawyer for the collective, said at a San José forum that the organization had documented 198 cases involving journalists who suffered different forms of repression and violence from 2018 through 2026. Thirteen of those journalists were victims of what he described as “some type of transnational repression.”

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Unfortunately, violence follows them beyond the borders. Transnational repression is a fact that has been used to silence journalism that left Nicaragua.

“Unfortunately, violence follows them beyond the borders,” Marenco said. “Transnational repression is a fact that has been used to silence journalism that left Nicaragua.” Óscar Jiménez, a researcher with the University of Costa Rica’s Program for Freedom of Expression and the Right to Information, said the persecution in Nicaragua had become internationalized. A program report documented allegations involving journalists in Costa Rica, the United States, Mexico, Spain and Panama.

The report cited death threats against Jennifer Ortiz, director of the Nicaragua Investiga platform, who had lived in Costa Rica. Jiménez said Nicaragua represented “the vanguard of repression and cruelty” against journalists, citing persecution, exile, transnational repression, killings, espionage and denationalization. From 2018 through 2026, at least 54 Nicaraguan media outlets were closed, according to the Foundation for Freedom of Expression and Democracy. At least 310 media workers also left Nicaragua for security reasons or were expelled, the article said.

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The vanguard of repression and cruelty