Across Latin America, a wave of right-wing governments is tightening its grip on press freedom and normalising the public display of state violence. In Argentina, President Javier Milei has averaged 2.4 documented insults per day against journalists since taking office in 2023, according to the fact-checking outlet Chequeado, while his administration has blocked press access to the Casa Rosada (Argentina's presidential palace) to a degree not seen even under the country's military dictatorship of 1976–1983. In Colombia, newly inaugurated President Abelardo de la Espriella provoked a national debate and a court order when he shared videos of himself walking among the bodies of guerrillas killed in military operations, with a Bogotá judge ordering the posts temporarily hidden; his government has also begun requiring ministerial approval before officials can speak to journalists, and selectively barred certain outlets from press events. Analysts warn that a broader regional pattern is taking shape, with El Salvador's Nayib Bukele having driven at least 40 journalists into exile and Ecuador recording the steepest press-freedom drop in the region in 2026 — all leaders who are aligned with US President Donald Trump, whose own administration is accused by Reporters Without Borders of politically motivated interference in media.