Maduro Regime Cracks Down on Journalists Reporting on Opposition Leader's Nobel Peace Prize: Report

Venezuelan journalists who mentioned opposition leader María Corina Machado's Nobel Peace Prize on air have been suspended or threatened with sanctions following direct pressure from authorities, according to local media reports and a statement from the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP).

In an official statement, the SNTP confirmed that journalists across the country had been threatened or suspended for addressing "issues of clear public interest," including Machado's Nobel recognition and the attack in Bogotá on two Venezuelan activists in exile on Monday. The organization said it was witnessing "new and serious manifestations of censorship" in radio circuits nationwide.

"These actions constitute a clear violation of freedom of expression and the right of all citizens to be informed," the SNTP said. "Such decisions reflect the advance of censorship that seeks to erase from the public agenda any topic that disturbs those in power." The union added that censorship — whether imposed directly or through fear of reprisal — "constitutes a form of violence against journalism."

The statement reaffirmed the SNTP's solidarity with affected reporters and its "commitment to defending the free, dignified, and responsible practice of journalism in Venezuela."

According to reports from NTN24, producers and hosts at several major radio networks, among them Unión Radio, were abruptly removed from their programs after referencing Machado's historic win — the first Nobel Peace Prize ever awarded to a Venezuelan and only the second to a Latin American woman.

Among those reportedly affected are well-known journalists Luis Olavarrieta and Shirley Varnagy, whose shows did not air as scheduled. No explanation was given to listeners, and replacement hosts filled their slots without acknowledgment of the changes.

The attack in Colombia, referenced by the SNTP, targeted Venezuelan exiles Luis Peche Arteaga and Yendri Velásquez, both critics of the Maduro regime. The two men were shot and wounded Monday outside their residence in northern Bogotá, in what Colombian authorities are investigating as a targeted attack. Velásquez, a member of Amnesty International, and Peche, a political consultant who fled Caracas earlier this year, were both hospitalized and later declared stable.

These incidents come amid mounting concern over the broader decline of press freedom in Venezuela. In May, the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (SRFOE) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) warned of the "serious and progressive deterioration" of the country's media environment and a "growing climate of fear and self-censorship" among journalists and citizens.

According to the IACHR, at least 12 journalists remain detained, several on charges of "incitement to hatred" or "terrorism," often without due process. The rapporteurship urged Venezuelan authorities to end arbitrary arrests, release all those detained for political reasons, and guarantee freedom of expression in line with international human rights standards.