Bogotá, April 11, 2025—Venezuelan authorities should immediately release journalist Nakary Mena Ramos and her camera operator husband, Gianni González, drop all charges against them, and ensure they can do their jobs without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
“The Venezuelan government’s crackdown on the press has persisted for months, intensifying following the July 28 disputed reelection of President Nicolás Maduro,” said CPJ’s Latin America program coordinator, Cristina Zahar, in São Paulo. “Public scrutiny is a crucial component of democratic accountability and a free press, and Nakary Mena Ramos and Gianni González must be freed without condition.”
A criminal court on April 10 ordered Mena, a reporter with the independent news site Impacto Venezuela, to remain in detention at a women’s prison on the outskirts of the capital city of Caracas on preliminary charges of “hate crimes” and “publishing fake news,” according to the National Press Workers Union (SNTP).
Impacto Venezuela posted that Mena, 28, and González, who is being held at El Rodeo II prison near Caracas, were denied access to private lawyers but assigned public defenders.
A pro-government journalist criticized Mena’s report on rising crime in Caracas – a sensitive issue for the government –a day before she and González went missing on April 8 near a public square in downtown Caracas. Minister Diosdado Cabello has also criticized the report, calling it “a campaign to instill fear in people.”
Impacto Venezuela defended Mena’s report as based on interviews with average citizens and supported with government information.
The arrests of Mena and González come amid a sharp rise in oppression against Venezuelan journalists by Maduro’s authoritarian government, which has created a heightened environment of fear, stigmatization, and criminalization of independent voices.
CPJ’s calls to the attorney general’s office in Caracas did not receive any reply.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.