A journalist in exile receives tribute

COPENHAGEN (EFE).— The Nicaraguan journalist Carlos Chamorro yesterday acquired the Golden Pen of Freedom award in the course of the seventy fifth World Information Media Congress of the World Affiliation of Newspapers and Information Publishers (WAN-IFRA), held in Copenhagen.

The award was given to him for being an emblem of the fight and braveness “essential to proceed combating within the title of press freedom.”

“At a time when freedom of the press and freedom of expression are underneath assault in Nicaragua, whereas there’s a means of criminalization of impartial journalism in different Latin American nations, I really feel deeply honored to obtain the Golden Pen of Freedom “stated Chamorro, founding father of the Nicaraguan digital newspaper “Confidencial” and director and presenter of the tv format “Esta Semana”, when accepting the award.

“It’s an honor that I obtain along with my colleagues from “Confidencial”, who make it potential for us to proceed doing high quality journalism in exile; and I share it with all of the impartial journalists of Nicaragua, whose resistance, additionally in exile, represents the final reserve of freedom underneath a totalitarian dictatorship,” he stated.

“I dedicate this award to all Latin American journalists who face political persecution and imprisonment, akin to Víctor Ticay in Nicaragua, José Rubén Zamora in Guatemala, Mayelín Rodríguez in Cuba and others who’re severely threatened, akin to Gustavo Gorriti in Peru and the Armando.Information group in Venezuela“, he defined.

Chamorro, who resides in exile in Costa Rica, recalled, in flip, that he’s and can all the time be “Nicaraguan, regardless of this crime towards humanity.”

“And, due to the immense solidarity of the worldwide group and significantly the Authorities of Spain, I’ve acquired Spanish nationality and right this moment I’m a Nicaraguan who travels with a Spanish passport,” he harassed.

“One is rarely ready to go away one’s homeland and go into exile. On the finish of 2018 and once more in mid-2021, I needed to face the agony of that dilemma: be illegally detained and silenced in jail or go into exile with my spouse, crossing the Costa Rica border via blind spots, to protect my freedom and with the ability to proceed training journalism. Now, my complete editorial group and virtually all the impartial press in Nicaragua are in exile,” he remarked.

Likewise, he famous that the “primary problem, each day,” is to not immerse “within the bubble of exile, however slightly to proceed investigating and telling the story of the disaster of a totalitarian household dictatorship.”

And, subsequently, proceed to spotlight “public corruption and extortion towards corporations and residents, the persecution towards the Catholic Church, the erosion attributable to the political surveillance of the regime towards public officers, the mass exodus of Nicaraguans and the tales of ache and hope of our day by day lives.”

For her half, Martha Ramos, editorial director of the Mexican Editorial Group (OEM) in Mexico and president of the World Editors Discussion board, the worldwide group of WAN-IFRA editors, acknowledged that the award honors “a journalist immersed within the struggle for freedom, beset by tragedy and reflecting the rise and fall of the nation it has served for many years, whose continued wrestle and sacrifice mirror the hopes and beliefs of tens of millions of individuals for a greater future.”

“In occasions of polarization between political extremes, the sufferer has all the time been – and can proceed to be – the press. Our winner is aware of this very effectively. “His journey from politics to the highest of the media has come full circle and is deeply private, reflecting the ups and downs of the continent he calls dwelling,” Ramos added.

The winner’s father, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, was director and editor of La Prensa and was murdered in 1978.

The Golden Pen of Freedom is WAN-IFRA’s annual award that acknowledges people or organizations which have made an impressive contribution to the protection and promotion of press freedom. The winner is nominated from a brief record of candidates by the board of administrators of the World Editors Discussion board.