Nicaragua Exits UNESCO Over Press Freedom Award to Exiled Newspaper

Nicaragua officially withdrew from UNESCO on May 4 after the UN agency awarded its World Press Freedom Prize to La Prensa newspaper. Foreign Minister Valdrack Jaentschke sent a letter to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay announcing the decision.

The Nicaraguan government labeled the award “unacceptable and inadmissible” in its formal communication. The government accused La Prensa of promoting “violence, interference, hate crimes, cruelty, anti-culture, and anti-values.”

Officials described the newspaper as “a diabolical expression of traitorous anti-patriotic feeling” that serves “the promotion and defense of North American military and political interventions in Nicaragua.”

La Prensa, founded in 1926, stands as Nicaragua‘s oldest newspaper and has maintained a critical stance toward President Daniel Ortega’s administration.

The newspaper ceased physical publication in 2021 after police raided its headquarters and arrested its manager, Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro. Nicaraguan authorities sentenced Holmann to nine years in prison in 2022 before deporting him to the United States in 2023.

The newspaper now operates exclusively online with its editorial team working from exile in countries including Costa Rica, Spain, Mexico, Germany, and the United States.

Nicaragua Withdraws from UNESCO

UNESCO granted the award to La Prensa for “bringing truth to the people of Nicaragua” despite facing “severe repression.” The international jury praised the newspaper for “courageously keeping the flame of press freedom alive” while operating in exile.

Azoulay expressed regret over Nicaragua’s withdrawal, stating it would “deprive the people of Nicaragua of the benefits of cooperation, particularly in education and culture.” She defended the organization’s mandate to protect freedom of expression worldwide.

Under UNESCO‘s constitution, Nicaragua will officially end its 74-year membership on December 31, 2026. The country joined the organization in 1952.

This withdrawal adds to Nicaragua’s growing isolation from international bodies. The Ortega government has shut down over 5,000 non-governmental organizations since the 2018 protests, which resulted in more than 300 deaths according to UN estimates.

Nicaragua currently ranks 172nd out of 180 countries in press freedom according to Reporters Without Borders. The organization warns that the Ortega government “has eradicated independent media” and forced hundreds of journalists into exile.