Almost two years into the government of the first woman to occupy the Presidency, Xiomara Castro Sarmiento, an atmosphere of confrontation against freedom of expression prevails.
The governmental discourse is sometimes focused on criticizing and disqualifying those who disagree with the current administration, which generates an atmosphere of polarization.
The atmosphere of insecurity and danger for journalists has not changed, and more than 100 murders of journalists and communicators in recent years continue to go unpunished.
"There were 21 complaints in the first months of 2023, from journalists and social communicators denouncing being at risk or being victims of forced displacement from the country", states a report of the National Human Rights Commission of this year.
El Heraldo revealed that between 2022 and 2023, there were physical attacks, aggressions, complaints in court, threats, harassment, intimidations, and murders of six people related to the media and that 96 murders of journalists and communicators remain unpunished.
President Castro met in September with the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, and handed him the agreement to install the International Commission against Impunity and Corruption (Cicih). The government signed a deal with the International Monetary Fund, and after being expelled, the administration aspires to be reinstated in the Millennium Account, a benefit program of the US government.
The Secrecy Law, which, while in force, favored impunity and opacity in the management of public administration, fostered corruption, and hid officials who committed irregularities in the exercise of power, was repealed.
The IAPA officers stressed the importance of strengthening and allocating the necessary resources so that the System for the Protection and Security of Journalists can guarantee the lives of journalists. Currently, the system shelters 14 justice operators, 12 journalists, 119 human rights defenders, and 13 social communicators.
