VOA spent decades building an enviable media network in Latin America. It was silenced overnight

For more than six decades, Voice of America provided uninterrupted news and information to Latin America, covering Cold War tensions, military dictatorships, a transition to democracy and changing relations with the United States. Before President Donald Trump issued his March 14 executive order that effectively began dismantling the international broadcaster, VOA’s Spanish-language content reached a weekly audience of 100.7 million. It had amassed large audiences in countries across the region, even in highly censored markets like Venezuela.

VOA Spanish audience across Latin America

Source: USAGM research

At the beginning of 2025, VOA’s Spanish Service was broadcasting 64 hours of audio and video reports every week, which were amplified by more than 680 local media outlets. Its extensive partner network made it one of the most effective U.S. international broadcasting platforms for countering disinformation and promoting democratic values.

However, on March 15 the service went dark. It has stopped all its broadcasts and is producing no content on digital media. When the broadcasts were shut off without warning, more than a dozen leading affiliate networks across Latin America expressed concern, citing how important VOA’s objective journalism is to their audiences, including informing the public about the United States and U.S. foreign policy, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, immigration and drug trafficking.

Affiliates in Peru (ATV), Mexico (ADN40), Uruguay (Venevision), Honduras (grupo VTV) and Venezuela (Venevision) described VOA’s collaboration as “essential” or “crucial” to their outlets. A Paraguayan television network, Telefuturo, said because of its agreement with VOA the network “followed the entire U.S. electoral process, even broadcasting VOA’s live signal uninterrupted to keep our viewers informed about every development.”

The director of the Latin American Information Alliance (AIL), Juan Carlos Isaza, said “I would like, on behalf of the 21 channels that constitute the Latin American Information Alliance, to express our complete solidarity with [VOA]. … The support that the VOA has given to our organization and our partner channels has been invaluable.” Many of VOA’s largest affiliate stations are part of the AIL network, including Caracol TV in Colombia, Azteca in Mexico, Latina in Peru, and Venevision in Venezuela.

VOA’s reporting had been especially important in countries with restricted press freedoms, where independent outlets affiliated with VOA provided one of the few sources of information outside of state‑controlled media. In Venezuela and Nicaragua — two countries facing the most censorship in the region — VOA had combined affiliate partnerships with more than 40 local independent media outlets.

VOA’s Spanish Service produced a 30-minute daily newscast El Mundo al Día showcasing topics including the Venezuelan crisis and its impact on the U.S. The daily program was broadcast by more than 100 TV stations across Latin America.

In Venezuela, where 400 media outlets have been closed over the past two decades, VOA’s Spanish Service was one of the few remaining independent sources of news that was able to address the country’s deepening crisis. Through in-depth reporting and exclusive interviews with key figures, such as opposition leaders Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez, as well as bipartisan U.S. policymakers and regional experts, the service connected Venezuelan audiences directly with the global conversation about their country’s future.

Its impact was so significant that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro repeatedly attacked VOA’s Spanish Service in public statements — an unmistakable sign of the service’s reach and influence inside the country, and of the threat that its truthful reporting posed to the government’s control of information.

In the absence of VOA’s Spanish Service, China’s state-run media has aggressively expanded its reach by partnering with former VOA Spanish affiliates, including AIL, which unites major TV and radio stations across Latin America.

Russia is also filling the void after ramping up its disinformation efforts across Latin America. In April 2024, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City sent a diplomatic cable to Washington about Russian media outlet RT, titled “Mexico: RT’s Invasion,” according to reporting from The New York Times. “RT’s aggressive investment in Mexico and its strategy to build its credibility and undermine the United States, poses a threat to current popular perception,” the cable said, adding, the mission “needs more resources to counter RT’s well-funded efforts.” The cable noted that RT’s Spanish language Twitter account, which targets viewers across Latin America, had 191,000 views in 2022, but jumped to 715 million views a year later.

Both Russia and China have been expanding their footprint across Latin America, including through media investments in Nicaragua and Venezuela, where pro-Kremlin and pro-Beijing narratives are increasingly visible.

In Nicaragua, Russian state media have formalized their role through several agreements: Sputnik signed a cooperation deal in September 2022, RT Español followed with a content-sharing and training agreement in December 2022, and Izvestia added a broader collaboration agreement in August 2025. These arrangements allow Russian outlets to provide video content, technical support and training directly to state-controlled media.

In Venezuela, Russia and China rely on regional platforms like TeleSUR, which is sponsored by the governments of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, to reinforce messaging that challenges U.S. influence. Reports from the German Marshall Fund note that this coordinated communication strategy helps amplify Maduro’s anti-U.S. rhetoric, giving it broader reach across the region.