Venezuela: Acts of Resistance

Over the last five years, censorship – both stateenforced and self-imposed – has become increasingly prevalent in Venezuela. Whether it takes the form of direct attacks on journalists, restrictive legislation and lawsuits against media outlets, or whether it is experienced psychologically as a kind of ‘internal policeman’ controlling one’s private conversations and exercising an inhibitory pressure over what one writes, the effect on writers, the media , and society more generally, has been devastating. This report is the result of PEN International’s mission to Venezuela in February/March 2018, and is intended to provide an overview of the current situation in the country as it pertains to freedom of expression, censorship and writers. It includes numerous case studies which serve to demonstrate the personal consequences of both state and self-censorship and ends with a series of recommendations.