Nicaragua takes Spanish-language CNN off the air amid government crackdown

The Nicaraguan government has taken Spanish-language CNN off the air as part of an ongoing government crackdown in the Central American country.

CNN en Español went off the air overnight Wednesday, the outlet reported, saying cable operators in the country did not respond to requests for comment.

“Today the government of Nicaragua pulled our television signal, denying Nicaraguans news and information from our television network, which they have relied upon for 25 years,” CNN said in a statement.

During his fifth term Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has cracked down on critics in both political opposition and in the press. Late last year, president Biden accused Ortega’s government of conducting “a pantomime election that was neither free nor fair, and most certainly not democratic.”

CNN had been providing news critical of Ortega’s ongoing crack down on dissenters, the outlet reported, citing its reporting on the recent detention of a Catholic bishop investigated for “destabilizing and provocative” activities.