Persecution, threats, and restrictions on press freedom have forced hundreds of Latin American journalists to leave their countries. Yet rather than silencing their voices, exile is giving rise to new networks of collaboration.
IAPA´s Carlos Lauria during the discussion panel with Luisa Ortiz of Vita Activa and Roberto Deniz, from the portal Armando.info
Exile has become one of the most alarming manifestations of the press freedom crisis sweeping Latin America. What for years was an exceptional situation associated with dictatorships or armed conflicts now affects journalists across several countries, forcing them to leave their homes to protect their safety, freedom, or ability to continue reporting.
This was the central theme of the panel “Journalism Under Siege: Exile and Forced Displacement,” held during the 82nd General Assembly of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) in Bogotá. The gathering brings together media leaders, journalists, and experts from across the Americas to discuss press freedom, digital transformation, and the challenges facing independent journalism.
The panel featured Roberto Deniz, co-founder of Armando.info (Venezuela); Carlos Lauría, IAPA executive director; and Luisa Ortiz Pérez, executive director of Vita-Activa. The discussion was moderated by Fernando Quijano Velasco, director of the Colombian newspaper La República.
A Growing Threat
During the panel, Carlos Lauría noted that journalistic exile has become an increasingly widespread regional trend. For years, it was associated primarily with countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Today, however, it also affects journalists in other nations where political, judicial, or criminal pressures against the press are mounting.
The consequences extend beyond those forced to leave. When a journalist is driven from their community or a media outlet must relocate its operations abroad, society also loses access to independent, watchdog journalism that serves the public interest.
In response to this reality, the IAPA launched the Latin American Network of Journalists in Exile (RELPEX) in October 2024, a regional initiative designed to support journalists and media outlets that continue their work from outside their home countries.
RELPEX currently brings together a regional community of journalists and runs programs providing emergency assistance, legal support, psychosocial care, professional training, and employment opportunities. Its goal is to strengthen these professionals’ ability to continue practicing journalism.
One of its key initiatives is the Employability Stipend Program, which facilitates temporary placements for exiled journalists at media outlets in different countries across the region. This mechanism enables professionals to remain active, earn an income, and continue developing their skills while rebuilding their lives.
The network also promotes cross-border collaboration, allowing displaced journalists to continue investigating and covering developments in their home countries from abroad. This work is increasingly important in environments where access to information is restricted.
Reporting from Exile
Roberto Deniz’s experience illustrates many of these challenges. The Venezuelan journalist recalled that he had to leave Venezuela following reprisals stemming from Armando.info’s investigations into corruption networks linked to businessman Alex Saab. However, he said the main challenge began after crossing the border.
“You leave thinking about your safety, but then another question arises: How do you keep doing journalism?” he explained. According to Deniz, exiled journalists risk losing touch with the realities of their home countries or becoming consumed by the political dynamics of exile. The challenge, he argued, is to maintain an independent editorial agenda and produce rigorous investigative reporting.
Several Venezuelan media outlets now operate from exile and continue to publish some of the country’s most significant investigations into corruption, political power, and organized crime.
The Human Cost of Displacement
The discussion also addressed the emotional and psychological effects of forced displacement. Luisa Ortiz Pérez, executive director of Vita-Activa, explained that many of the consequences emerge years after journalists leave their countries, once they have achieved a degree of financial and emotional stability.
“Journalists remain journalists. They do not stop being journalists because a law silences them or because they have to cross a border,” she said. Ortiz emphasized that exile entails the loss of support networks, family ties, professional identity, and a sense of belonging. She therefore stressed the importance of complementing physical protection with psychosocial support and resilience-building strategies.
From Displacement to Collaboration
Despite the troubling outlook, the panel conveyed a message of hope: exile does not necessarily mean the end of journalism. Participants agreed that international collaboration among journalists, media outlets, and support organizations has enabled numerous investigations to continue from outside the countries where they originated.
In this regard, initiatives such as RELPEX seek to transform a condition of vulnerability into a platform for resistance and professional continuity. The discussion’s main conclusion was that exile can no longer be understood solely as an individual tragedy. It is a regional challenge to press freedom and to society’s right to be informed. In response, support networks, cooperation, and employment opportunities have become essential tools enabling displaced journalists to continue fulfilling their mission to inform, investigate, and seek the truth.
