CNN on Thursday denounced the Nicaraguan government after the network’s Spanish-language service CNN en Español was taken off the air there late Wednesday.
The feed was removed at 10 p.m. local time, CNN said. The feed went dark as the network showed footage of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy giving his video address at this week’s UN General Assembly.
“Today the government of Nicaragua pulled our television signal, denying Nicaraguans news and information from our television network, which they have relied upon for 25 years,” CNN said in a statement today.
The feed was cut from cable providers in Nicaragua at the request of Eduardo Martin Salguera Landero, Director of the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Post Office. A letter signed by Landero written in Spanish and shared via social media claims the new station was removed for violating laws that “ensure the protection, defense, and preservation of the principles, rights, and guarantees established in our political constitution.”
The validity of the document has not been confirmed by Deadline.
Nicaragua’s longtime president Daniel Ortega has been known for cracking down on press freedoms and against his critics. One of those critics was the father of Riverdale creator and executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who was charged with conspiracy and treason after criticizing Ortega and went missing for several months. He is now under house arrest.
CNN said today its CNN en Español website remains in working order in the Central American country and urged Nicaraguans to visit the network’s YouTube channel to continue receiving their feed.
“CNN stands by our network’s reporting and our commitment to truth and transparency,” Miami-based CNN correspondent Fernando Del Rincón said on air today, showing the moment the feed went dark. “At CNN en Español we believe in the vital role that freedom of the press plays in a healthy democracy.”