Many of the Venezuelan Newspapers are closed  during five years of recession in the once-prosperous OPEC member country, according to the national journalism association, leaving El Nacional as the last independent national daily.Press watchdogs warn that media freedom declined over the past year, which saw President Nicolas Maduro win a fresh six-year term in May at elections boycotted by the opposition.Venezuela slid six places in Reporters Without Borders’ index of world press freedom to 143 place from 180 countries surveyed.

According to Venezuela’s Press Institute IPYS, the national telecoms regulator also closed 40 radio stations in 2017 citing irregularities in their licenses. Maduro’s government says it treats all media outlets equally and there is freedom of expression. However, it has publicly said it wants more control over the media, which in the past was openly anti-government and welcomed a brief coup in 2002 against then-President Hugo Chavez.The closures have left coverage increasingly in the hands of state-controlled radio and television outlets and pro-government newspapers like Ultimas Noticias, covering Maduro’s official activities while ignoring rising levels of malnutrition and disease.

Venezuela’s Information Ministry did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the government’s treatment of the media .A number of Venezuela’s new generation of online outlets also are increasingly facing difficulties. They are reporting website blockages, forcing them to find more creative ways to deliver news, such as audio summaries sent by WhatsApp. Government feels they can sensor all news by blocking even the websites. The Information Ministry did not respond to a request to comment on website blockages.