Press freedom index in Latin America & the Caribbean 2023, by country

In 2023, Costa Rica had the highest press freedom score among countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Central American nation scored 80.2 points on scale from 1 to 100. In fact, compared to other countries in the region, Costa Rica has exhibited high press freedom scores for years now. Two Caribbean countries – Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica – followed, with 76.54 and 75.89 points, respectively. The index presents an overview of the plurality and independence of the media and how safe and free it is for journalists to do their job, with lower scores indicating a worse situation for the press and higher scores a better one.

Press freedom laggards in the LATAM region

Venezuela, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Cuba had the worst results in the region in 2023 - their scores stood below 38 points. Unsurprisingly, due to the political situation in these four countries, journalism there experiences high restrictions imposed by the governments in order to stifle access to information. In one country, private press is actually prohibited by constitution – for that reason Cuba has seen only the lowest press freedom scores year after year. Honduras, ranking second lowest on the index, has been noted to see declining press freedom scores since the coup d’etat in 2009. All in all, it comes as no surprise that trust in mass media in Latin America keeps deteriorating.

Dangers of being a journalist in Latin America

Mexico is considered the most dangerous country for journalist as it ranks high in terms of number of deaths not only in the Latin America region, but also the highest in the world. In 2022, Mexico was found to be the deadliest country for journalists worldwide, with more than 10 representatives of the press being killed that year. Colombia and Brazil follow second and third in the regional ranking, yet still far below the figures reported in Mexico.