Roberto Salinas León | Director, Center for Latin America
The winner of the Atlas Network-Cátedra Vargas Llosa Young Journalism Prize 2022 was announced on Wednesday, November 16, at Atlas Network's annual Liberty Forum in New York City. The 2022 prize was announced by Roberto Salinas-León, director of Atlas Network's Center for Latin America, together with Darío Lopérfido, director of the Cátedra Vargas Llosa in Madrid.
The winner of this second edition was Mexican Víctor Nuñez Jaime, for an editorial on the life and “second exile” of celebrated Nicaraguan novelist and thought-leader Sergio Ramírez, entitled “El segundo exilio de Sergio Ramírez,” published in Milenio.
The Young Journalism Prize 2022 is a joint initiative inaugurated last year, now celebrating its second edition. The project is designed to recognize and promote young Spanish-language journalists who have made the most impressive contributions to advancing the message and principles of liberty through stories, editorials, and narratives. The award includes a prize of US$10,000.
Víctor Núñez, who has been involved in journalism since the age of 17 and has published widely throughout Spain and Latin American venues, details how Sergio Ramírez, in his first exile, had a “future too look forward;” whereas on this occasion, in this second exile, he can “only look into the past.”
Mr. Nuñez, who professes a great admiration of the life and legacy of Mario Vargas Llosa, was “thrilled” to be chosen the recipient of this recognition.
The story highlights the cruelty of the Ortega dictatorship and its brutal methods in suppressing any form of dissent—which is what forced 80-year-old Mr. Ramírez into exile in 2021, in Madrid. He had previously been exiled during the regime of Anastasio Somoza. Nuñez hopes this award contributes towards exposing Ortega’s authoritarianism and especially its assault against freedom of expression.
You can read the editorial here.