Bodyguards for Deputy Mario Rivera brutally beat two television reporters in Guatemala, according to a report by elPeriódico.
Reporter Héctor López and cameraman Diego Morales for Guatevisión were attacked in front of the National Unity for Hope political party headquarters on Nov. 6 while covering elections in the city of Santa Cruz, Quiché, along the Mexican border, reported Cerigua.
The attackers threw rocks at the reporters' vehicle and, when they got out to see what was happening, the reporters were insulted and attacked by the deputy's bodyguards, reported the GuateDigital network.
The a video camera was destroyed along with a tripod and their computers, reported Prensa Libre. The reporter denounced a group of police officers present who stood by during the attack and did not intervene.
Cordero alleged that Raúl Antonio Matías, brother to the governor of Quiché, was involved in the attack and said during the attack that it was for "unpaid debts" for publishing news critical of the governor.
Just days later, another correspondent in the department of Sololá for Guatevisión, Gustavo Girón, claimed he received a threatening phone call moments after the station aired a piece about the capture of two leaders from a local security committee in the tourist town of Panajachel, reported Cerigua and IFEX.
In the same region, a columnist in Guatemala received threats after writing about abuses by another security committee, known as the "hooded ones."
