"They faked my capture": the harassment that forced journalist Gerall Chávez to leave Nicaragua

Journalist Gerall Chávez co-founded the outlet Nicaragua Actual after leaving his country for Costa Rica in late 2018. (Illustrative image Infobae) Nicaraguan journalist Gerall Chávez left his country on December 30, 2018, following increased pressure against communicators and media outlets. From Costa Rica, he turned a forced departure into the possibility of sustaining his work and co-founding Nicaragua Actual, a project that began with a cell phone, a microphone, and Facebook Live broadcasts. His story is part of the fourth installment of the #LejosDeCasa series by the UN Human Rights Office for Central America, which gathers testimonies from people forced to rebuild their lives outside Nicaragua. Before leaving his country, Gerall's family suffered an attack on their home. According to his account, his parents' house was vandalized in August 2018. Months later, on December 22 of that year, a photograph simulating his arrest began to circulate. "The last thing that made me finally leave Nicaragua was a photograph of me that circulated, where they simulated my capture," the communicator said. That episode occurred, according to his account, in a context of increasing pressure by the regime against press professionals and media outlets. After heading to Costa Rica irregularly, he applied for refugee status and initially settled in a friend's house. After about a month, he moved with other colleagues to an apartment. There, the idea emerged to continue journalistic coverage from exile. Chávez entered Costa Rica irregularly and formally applied for refugee status. (Courtesy: Social media) "We, a group of journalists, found ourselves here, and days after arriving in Costa Rica we said: 'Why don't we keep reporting?'" he recalled. The response was immediate: they began producing content with the equipment they had available and created Nicaragua Actual. The outlet's consolidation in its first months depended on contributions from the audience. Gerall said that people inside and outside Nicaragua made donations of various amounts so the team could cover basic expenses, including food, rent, and compensation for those participating in the project. According to him, the outlet reached a community of nearly half a million subscribers, a figure he attributed to the public's trust in independent journalism. The experience also forced its members to take on tasks that in a traditional newsroom could have been distributed among others, such as editing, online broadcasting, and news presenting. Gerrall Chávez keeps a backpack with broadcasting equipment ready for the moment of his eventual return to Nicaragua. (Courtesy: Social media) Exile was a personal and professional rupture for Gerall, but it also opened a period of learning. "It was an opportunity to reinvent myself, to keep doing journalism, to be able to travel, to do international coverage, and to constantly update myself," he said. The communicator noted that practicing journalism from outside Nicaragua presents economic and security challenges. He mentioned periods of low income due to the reduction in digital monetization. Even so, he recalled: "Continuing to talk about the issue of Nicaragua somehow keeps us on the international agenda." He also spoke of his intention to return and resume his profession in his country, while keeping a backpack ready with a computer, a camera, and a microphone. "I know that at some point it will be used," he affirmed.