Overview
- Venezuela’s press union SNTP reported that 14 journalists were detained in and around the National Assembly on January 5 during the inaugural session, with 11 working for international outlets.
- By January 6, the SNTP said all detained reporters had been released, noting one deportation and earlier indications that two detainees were held by DGCIM before regaining freedom.
- The union later added that two international correspondents were also detained for hours at the Colombia border and released, bringing the day’s total detentions to 16.
- Reporters were barred from live transmission, recording, and photography inside the legislative palace, and SNTP said DGCIM and Guard units searched phones and accessed messages, contacts, and cloud files; an NGO also reported forced deletion of material.
- Press advocates warned of an escalating pattern of repression, as the SNTP renewed demands to free 23 imprisoned media workers and to unblock more than 60 censored news sites.