It was one of President Donald Trump's first acts on his return to the White House: curbing the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other bodies that fund humanitarian and democratization projects.
Dozens of Latin American outlets have cut staff. Some have closed altogether.
“It is regrettable that what had been one of the most reliable partners for the independent media sector and Cuban civil society has decided to so freely give the authoritarians cause for celebration,“ Jose Nieves, editor of the Miami-based Cuban news portal El Toque told AFP of the US retreat.
'Subversion'
USAID-funded projects for “so-called independent media and NGOs,“ he wrote on X last month, amounted to nothing other than multi-million dollar “subversion.”
Some non-state digital sites have emerged in recent years, many operating from abroad and accessible only to Cubans with a VPN.
The resulting “paralysis” of critical media “will only contribute to a more misinformed populace subjected to the lies of the enemies of freedom and democracy,“ the editor said.
For journalists in Nicaragua and Venezuela -- countries which, like Cuba, are under US sanctions for anti-democratic actions -- the aid cuts have also been devastating.
Divergentes, which operates from Costa Rica, cut its payroll in half and Herrera fears “a total information blackout” in Nicaragua.
At least 300 Nicaraguan journalists have left the country, and four were arrested in the last 12 months, according to RSF.
“USAIDcalypse”
More than 200 media outlets in the South American country have closed since the 1999-2013 presidency of socialist leader Hugo Chavez, according to the rights NGO Espacio Publico.
“Traditional media have stopped fulfilling their informational role in a climate of self-censorship and brutal censorship,“ said Rodolfo Rico, a Venezuelan free press activist.
“Journalists have less and less space to practice their profession, and people have fewer ways to stay informed,“ a Venezuelan reporter who recently lost his job told AFP, also declining to be named.
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