The Venezuelan press workers union denounced that in 2019, 40 journalists had been illegally detained as of 12 March; the National Assembly Parliamentary Commission for Media declared that there had been 173 aggressions against press workers as of 13 March. The commission planned to report these aggressions to the
International Criminal Court. According to
Efecto Cocuyo director,
Luz Mely Reyes, "journalism is becoming 'very complicated' in Venezuela where power outages, patchy internet and threats of violence have made reporting increasingly difficult". Reyes told
Agence France-Presse (AFP) in April that she is unsure that independent outlets like
Efecto Cocuyo may "survive" in this economic and political situation. Between 29 and 30 January, at least eleven press personnel were arrested. On the evening of 29 January, four journalists were arrested by the Maduro government while reporting near the Miraflores presidential palace—Venezuelan journalists Ana Rodríguez of
VPI TV and Maiker Yriarte of
TV Venezuela, and Chilean journalists Rodrigo Pérez and Gonzalo Barahona of
TVN Chile. The two Venezuelan journalists were released; the Chilean journalists were deported. Two French journalists from French TV show,
Quotidien, and their Venezuelan producer were detained for two days at
El Helicoide on 30 January. Three press workers of
EFE were also arrested by SEBIN and
DGCIM—a Colombian photographer, a Colombian companion, and a Spanish companion. Maduro denied that journalists were detained by authorities.
February 2019 anchor
Jorge Ramos was detained by the Maduro administration in February 2019 after a live interview. During the 23 February clashes, there were numerous reports of Venezuelan authorities and paramilitaries attacking press workers, including workers of the Associated Press, Ecos del Torbes, La Prensa de Lara, Telemundo, TVVenezuela, VIVOplay,
VPItv and others. Swedish reporter
Annika Hernroth-Rothstein reported to the National Assembly that she was violently threatened, ransacked and beaten by pro-Maduro paramilitary groups known as
colectivos on 23 February. Rothstein returned to Venezuela on 18 April, but she was briefly detained at the airport by the
Venezuelan National Guard (GNB) and was subsequently deported.
Jorge Ramos, who
The Guardian described as "arguably the best-known journalist in the Spanish-speaking world", was detained along with his
Univisión crew members during an interview with Maduro on 25 February. Univisión equipment and materials were confiscated by Venezuelan authorities. After being released, Ramos stated that he and his group were held because this question bothered Maduro. The journalist and dissident Chavist
Alí Domínguez was kidnapped on 28 February; he was found comatose on the roadside of a major highway on the morning of the next day, though this was not released even to his family until several days later, shortly before he died as a result of injuries of beating and suspected torture.
March blackouts US freelance journalist Cody Weddle and his Venezuelan coworker Carlos Camacho were detained for half a day on 7 March after Weddle house was raided and his equipment confiscated by military counterintelligence forces. US diplomats demanded Venezuelan authorities for Weddle's release. Weddle was deported afterwards. During the
2019 Venezuelan blackouts, Venezuelan–Spanish journalist
Luis Carlos Díaz was at his house when he was arrested by SEBIN forces, and taken along with his electronic equipment to
El Helicoide. He said he had been physically attacked and that the intelligence agents had taken money from his house without reporting it. A group accompanied by his wife, journalist
Naky Soto, protested in front of the prosecutor office.
Michelle Bachelet, head of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, was in Caracas at that time and tweeted concern about the detention. The
Spanish embassy in Caracas also contacted the government for information. Díaz was accused as an accomplice in a plot to cause the electricity outage, he was charged with instigation of a crime and is not allowed to leave Venezuela. He is also forbidden to participate in protests or to give statements to the media, and he must appear before court every eight days.
Gazeta Wyborcza Polish journalist, Tomasz Surdel, was briefly detained, threatened, and beaten, by police
Special Actions Force (FAES) during the blackout, according to the Venezuelan press workers union. The newspaper's website said it had received complaints about his reporting on Maduro from the Venezuelan Embassy in Warsaw, and that he was not arrested but was viciously beaten and left by the side of the road. German journalist
Billy Six, who was detained in El Helicoide since 17 November 2018 charged of espionage, rebellion and security violations, was allowed to leave Venezuela on 16 March. He must report to court every 15 days and he cannot speak to the media about his detention. Reporters Without Borders had previously considered the allegations unproven and called for his release.
Venemundo Web reporter Dayana Krays was threatened with a gun by colectivos on 31 March. During the second wave of blackouts, Venezuelan journalist
Danilo Alberto Gil was detained in Zulia on 30 March while covering the protests in
Ciudad Ojeda. At the time of the arrest, he was recording a video of the police repression against protesters and an attempt of detention of National Assembly members. Gil was released on 1 April judged with charges of resistance to authority and he is barred from leaving the country. Under the alleged threat of the presence of an explosive, the entry to the parliament was blocked by the GNB and SEBIN on 14 May. The National Assembly session of that day, concerning the detention of their vicepresident Edgar Zambrano, had to be rescheduled for the next day. Jorge Millan, a National Assembly member, said that the report of "bombs" was false. The access to media outlets to congress was blocked again on 21 and on 28 May.
Iván Simonovis—a former police commissioner arrested in November 2004 and accused by the
Hugo Chávez government of the violence that took place in Caracas during the 2002
Llaguno Overpass events—left house arrest in May. Guaidó said that security forces loyal to him released Simonovis. Press workers from
Caracol Televisión,
TV Venezuela and
Venevisión, were outside Simonovis house when his whereabouts were unknown. Five of the journalists were arbitrarily detained for three hours. On 21 May, The
Human Rights Watch and the
CPJ called for the "immediate release" of the photojournalist Jesús Medina Ezaine held in
Ramo Verde Prison. Medina was first detained in October 2017 alongside journalist Roberto di Matteo of Italy and Filippo Rossi of Switzerland while reporting at Tocorón penitentiary. After the detention, Medina went missing, according to the security forces, he was not held at their headquarters.
June–August 2019 News outlets were able to cover the National Assembly session on 4 June with the help of the members of the parliament. The media workers had to force their way through the blockade created by National Guardsmen. Journalists had to force their way into parliament again on 18 June. Power outages and internet disruptions followed during the parliamentary session. after accusing and protesting against Maduro for money laundering, was given conditional release on 5 July, the same day as the release of
María Lourdes Afiuni and 20 students, according to Bachelet. The releases happened after the publication of a
United Nations report on government-backed death squads and the petition from Bachelet to Maduro administration to release government dissidents. In July,
La Verdad Venezuelan journalist Wilmer Quintana García was detained on charges of "incitement or promotion hate" under the Venezuelan
Law against Hatred. Quintana García used his personal Facebook and Twitter accounts to report on corruption allegations carried out by
Guárico governor José Manuel Vasquez and president of Alimentos Guárico Emilio Ávila. Guaidó apologized for the incident, assuring that he would take the necessary actions to prevent it from happening again.
November–December 2019 Security forces from the Venezuelan military counterintelligence (
DGCIM) entered
Entorno Digital, a press office, on 19 November afternoon and detained its employees. The office director stated that he was not made aware of the justification for the detentions. Between the detainees there were members of news websites
Caraota Digital and
VPITv. The press workers were released some hours later during the night. For 10 hours, SEBIN agents raided the offices of , a media owned by
Telecaribe. Afterwards, the media was shut down indefinitely by the authorities without warrants nor government authorization for the raids, according to Venepress lawyers. Venepress news editor, Israel Barbuzano, suspects that the closures are part of an offensive against Telecaribe president who has supported Juan Guaidó in opinion columns.
January 2020 Parliament vote disrupted During the
2020 Venezuelan National Assembly Delegated Committee election, to choose the president of the National Assembly, independent journalists were also impeded from covering the event. Maduro's Ministry of Information, which has no relationship to the National Assembly, allowed reporters from state-run media to enter the legislative palace. Other reporters were not allowed in and told to watch it on a live feed from outside. In a follow-up on 15 January, the entry to the parliament was blocked by police forces. Colectivos, pro-Maduro paramilitary groups, joined the scene and threatened lawmakers and journalists. Parallel to it, in
Bolívar Square, colectivos attacked a teachers strike. Some journalists were attacked with
human waste.
2020 Punto de Corte report Punto de Corte journalists Johan Álvarez and Alexandra Villán did an undercover report about
CANTV, a major state owned telecommunication company, where they were able to infiltrate the main headquarters in Caracas with help of workers and showed several problems, including malfunctioning equipment and, as well as the lack of required air conditioning, which causes many problems experienced by users. After the report was published, the journalists were threatened and Punto de Corte was blocked in Venezuela. The day after the report was published, on 1 February, Álvarez and Villán were hit by a car in Baralt Avenue of Caracas while Álvarez was riding a motorcycle. Álvarez had a skull fracture and internal bleeding, while Villán received tibia and fibula fractures.
Airport incident in February 2020 During Juan Guaidó return to Venezuela in February 2020, after his second international tour, a group of supporters and pro-Maduro agitators received him in the airport. Despite the travel ban imposed on Guaidó, he was allowed to enter the country. During Guaidó's arrival, various media workers were insulted, harassed, robbed and physically aggressed by the agitators. According to the Venezuelan Press Working Union (SNTP), Venezuelan security forces were present and witnessed the attacks, but did not intervene. Between the reported incidents there were two reporters that were punched and kicked in the face and a female journalist that was bitten by an agitator.
On fuel shortages The house of journalist Eduardo Galindo in
Apure by Venezuelan anti-extortion and kidnapping unit from the
Venezuelan National Guard (GNB) on 15 April afternoon. Galindo was brought to police headquarters and was interrogated for his publications in
Senderos de Apure, a news website. Hours later Galindo's wife and brother were taken into custody too. Galindo's recent post related to fuel shortages in the region. According to the National Journalist Union, the authorities have not provided any additional information about Galindo's arrest, which had been conducted without a warrant, or filed any charges against him. The local prosecutor denied a document by the union demanding Galindo's release. ==Foreign censorship on the crisis==