Also described as "a defender of democracy and a staunch critic of the populist and authoritarian regimes in Latin America," Ibarz was present at the 1992 Fujimori coup in Peru, the 1994 Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, and other major events in modern Latin American history. In 1991, owing to his coverage of the regime of Fidel Castro, he became the first Spaniard to be expelled from Cuba. He later recalled that after the fall of the Soviet Union, Cubans "were so desperate that they were eating the island's cats," and said that no story he had ever written had "raised such a ruckus" as the 1992 article in which he "confirmed the sad fate of Cuban cats" by asking 300 or so Cubans if they had eaten cat. "About a third said yes." In addition to being expelled from Cuba, he was accused by Hugo Chávez of being "responsible for the political agitations against the Bolivarian caudillo."