IAPA Midyear Meeting. April 23 - 24, 2026.
The events recorded during the period reflect a deterioration of the environment for the exercise of freedom of expression, characterized by a combination of social unrest, institutional opacity, regulatory and administrative restrictions on access to public information, and an increase in attacks, threats, and pressure against journalists and media outlets.
The country went through a complex scenario in a context marked by allegations of corruption, challenges to judicial independence, and restrictions on access to public information.
At the institutional level, doubts about transparency and the independence of the branches of government intensified. The leak, in December, of a meeting between President Santiago Peña, the head of the Colorado Party, Horacio Cartes, and six justices of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), raised alarm over possible political interference in the judiciary. That same month, the exposure of the scheme known as the “promissory note mafia”—which involved improper collections through irregular court rulings and affected numerous workers through wage garnishments carried out mainly via the National Development Bank—revealed serious levels of corruption.
During this period, measures were adopted that restrict access to public information. In November, the Executive Branch enacted Law No. 7593/2025 “On Personal Data Protection,” whose Article 24 has been widely questioned for limiting access to public information under the argument of protecting personal data, apparently contradicting the National Constitution and Law No. 5282/14 “On Free Citizen Access to Public Information and Government Transparency.”
Likewise, the systematic use of constitutional injunctions (acciones de amparo) to block information requests was recorded: between October 2024 and November 2025, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) confirmed the filing of 27 such actions to block access to public information requests. Nineteen of these injunctions were granted, ordering the MEF not to disclose data, thereby undermining the law on access to public information and government transparency.
In the legislative sphere, initiatives aimed at modifying transparency standards were also observed, such as the bill promoted by the ruling party in the Senate to reinstate secret voting in the election of CSJ authorities, as well as the repeated postponement of a bill intended to protect journalists and human rights defenders, in a context of criticism over the exclusion of the latter from the legislative text.
Within this context, a climate of growing hostility toward the practice of journalism took hold. Statements by President Peña against journalists and critical media, as well as various actions by public officials—including restrictions on access to sources, limitations on asking questions at official events, and public discrediting—prompted statements from the Paraguayan Journalists’ Union, which denounced an adverse environment for press freedom and the exercise of the right to information.
Additionally, patterns of judicial and administrative pressure against actors linked to critical media outlets were identified. The proceedings initiated against Banco Atlas, in the framework of investigations into alleged money laundering linked to contracts with the late former president of CONMEBOL, Nicolás Leoz, were described by the defense as a case of selective persecution, given the financial institution’s ties to the business group that owns the newspaper ABC Color.
In general terms, the government faced a particularly complex six-month period, marked by mass mobilizations since February, led mainly by teachers’ unions opposing the reform of the Fiscal Fund promoted by the Executive Branch. The protests also included demands against so-called “VIP pensions” for members of Congress, generating strong social pressure and significant police deployments.
This scenario had antecedents in mobilizations promoted since late September by the group “Generación Z Paraguay,” and continued in October with protests over alleged corruption at the Paraguayan Indigenous Institute, which resulted in the removal of its head.
At the same time, claims by workers and beneficiaries of the Social Security Institute persisted, revealing a structural crisis in the public healthcare system, with complaints about lack of supplies, shortages of medicines, and deterioration of equipment.
The perception of a growing gap between the “macroeconomic stability” promoted in official discourse and real living conditions deepened public discontent. Episodes such as the paralysis of public transportation in March and allegations of irregularities in housing allocations reinforced criticism of the administration, along with public controversies dismissed by the president as an “invention.”
Timeline of other relevant cases:
On October 24, a suspect was captured for attacking the home of journalist Aníbal Benítez Vera, director of the digital outlet PDS, with a Molotov cocktail, along with a bullet wrapped in a note that read: “Be careful.”
On October 30, Luis Alberto Quintana Acosta was arrested, suspected of threatening journalist Carlos Benítez, host of the program El Observador on Ñandutí radio, via social media. His home had been shot at in September.
On November 27, the Human Rights Coordinator of Paraguay presented the report “Breaking the Silence,” documenting 22 murders of journalists committed between 1989 and 2024, with high levels of impunity in most cases. Most of the murdered journalists had investigated issues related to drug trafficking, smuggling, and corruption, especially in border areas.
On January 22, pretrial detention was ordered for attorney Zully Ortiz García and Evelin Paredes Frutos for alleged threats against journalist Carlos Benítez, director of El Observador. Ortiz García is suspected of instigating threats against the journalist via social media, in connection with publications about the promissory note mafia.
On January 12, on the sixth anniversary of the murder of journalist Léo Veras, non-governmental organizations filed a complaint before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights against the State for lack of due diligence in investigating the crime.
On February 13, Amnesty International filed an action of unconstitutionality before the CSJ against the law regulating non-profit organizations (Law No. 7,363/2024), arguing that it restricts fundamental rights, imposes disproportionate sanctions, and puts victims and human rights defenders at risk.
On February 2, a First Instance Labor Court judge ordered Televisión Cerro Corá (Channel 9) to reinstate journalist Angie Prieto to her job, after proving that her dismissal in October 2022 was unjustified. Prieto had been dismissed after expressing support for the accusers of journalist Carlos Granada, then news manager of Grupo Albavisión, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexual harassment and other criminal offenses.
On February 10, the Yacyretá Binational Entity prohibited its officials, through a circular, from communicating with the press. The measure was criticized as a mechanism of institutionalized censorship aimed at concealing irregularities, waste, and lack of integrity in the entity’s management.
On March 4, journalist Juan Alcaraz, director of the portal Salto del Guairá Noticias and correspondent for GEN channel and Universo 970AM, reported that he was assaulted by the mayor of Laurel (Canindeyú Department), Pablo Karjallo Pérez.
On March 27, the Justice of the Peace of Fernando de la Mora, Natalia Molas, rejected a request for censorship against journalists Luis Bareiro, Santiago González, and Arturo Villasanti that would have prohibited them from speaking about judicial officials Silvia Sugasti and Gessica Caballero. The officials had been shown in a video in a “spa session” inside the Office for Assistance to Victims of Violence at the Palace of Justice in San Lorenzo. The officials alleged online violence under Law 5777 “On Comprehensive Protection for Women,” demanding that journalists be prohibited from displaying videos or commenting on the incident. The judge ruled that freedom of expression prevails in this case, as public officials are subject to public scrutiny.
