Vicente Godoy, a Paraguayan journalist from the city of Horqueta, in the eastern region of the country, has requested asylum in another country after receiving death threats, reported the Paraguayan Society of Communicators (SCP, by its Spanish acronym). According to the organization, the threats are related to investigations published by the journalist into possible acts of corruption involving former mayor Jorge Emiliano Urbieta and his brother, congressman Arturo Urbieta, both members of the Colorado Party (ANR). Godoy, who has been publishing information and denunciations since 2021 in his news outlet Horqueta Digital, expressed his concern about the lack of protection from the State and pointed to the Public Prosecutor's Office as one of those responsible for this situation, alleging that his case was not treated with due seriousness.
The SCP urged the state attorney general, Emiliano Rolón, to take immediate steps to clarify Godoy's case and provide him with adequate protection in collaboration with the National Police. According to Godoy, the death threats he has received are a consequence of his journalistic work. He denounced that the prosecutor who was initially supposed to investigate his death threat case is the same one who previously failed to act in the corruption cases he presented.
"In view of these facts, the SCP, as a member of the Roundtable for the Safety of Journalists, vehemently calls on the Attorney General of the State to take action in the matter, so that we do not have to lament any more the murder of a journalist."
