“The Guatemalan Red Cross reported an armed attack in the village of Santa Fe, Coatepeque, [department of] Quetzaltenango, last Friday, March 21. The victim was identified as Ismael Alonzo González, a journalist and member of the Association of Journalists and Communicators of the Southwest (APSCO, by its acronym in Spanish). According to preliminary investigations, the […]
"On March 10, Guatemala’s Second Court carried out an order from the Third Court of Appeals, sending journalist José Rubén Zamora back to pretrial detention after his house arrest was revoked. According to the Attorney General’s Office, Zamora must return to prison 'immediately.' " 'The judge had no choice. The court arbitrarily ordered this. Despite […]
“On March 4, the Third Chamber of the Court of Appeals annulled all actions taken since October 2024 by Judge Erick García, who had granted house arrest to journalist José Rubén Zamora in his second criminal case. According to the court’s ruling, all proceedings by Judge García since October 17, 2024, are void, citing ‘procedural […]
The full bench of magistrates from the Chamber of Injunctions and Preliminary Proceedings from Guatemala’s Supreme Court has rejected a temporary injunction requested by prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity. The request aimed to reopen a criminal investigation against journalists and columnists who worked for the now-defunct newspaper elPeriódico, founded […]
On Friday, Feb. 7, Milton René Polanco Orellana, president of the Jutiapa Journalists Association, was reported missing. Family members said that when they went looking for him at his home in the Santa Bárbara neighborhood, they found the interior of the residence destroyed. Read full article [in Spanish]
“ARTICLE 19 is expressing concern over stigmatizing and intimidating actions by Guatemalan government officials, particularly from the Public Ministry and congress as journalists Marvin Del Cid and Sonny Figueroa carried out their reporting. Recently, the digital outlet Vox Populi investigated the use of a vehicle by Congress President Nery Ramos, and the refusal of Special […]
“Guatemalan journalists Marvin Del Cid and Sonny Figueroa have been the subjects of harassment in recent weeks, the organization Artículo 19 reported. The attacks intensified after the Del Cid and Figueroa published an article about media outlets spreading disinformation in Guatemala. They also escalated following the release of a video showing someone photographing the two […]
“On Monday [Jan. 13], Guatemala's Supreme Court granted an amparo to Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora that suspends his re-entry into prison, as an appeals court had ordered last November. Zamora was released from prison in October 2024 after almost two years serving a six-year sentence for money laundering that was later annulled. A judge […]
"This Jan. 9, the Amparo and Pretrial Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice denied the provisional protection requested by the defense of journalist Jose Rubén Zamora, founder of elPeriódico, and ratified the resolution of the Second Court of Appeals that revoked substitute measures and ordered his preventive detention. According to an alert published by […]
"Guatemalan authorities issued an arrest warrant on December 6 for journalist Juan Luis Font on charges of collusion and passive bribery. Font, co-director of the news radio show Con Criterio, has been living in exile since 2022 and told CPJ the charges stem from an old case that authorities have repeatedly used to try to incriminate him. [...] […]
"Ensuring a safe environment for journalists remains a critical challenge for Latin America's democracies. Since 2000, at least 338 journalists have been killed in the region, highlighting the urgent need for protection mechanisms to counter systemic violence. In a new report, Reporters Without Borders (RSF, for its initials in French) analyzed journalist protection programs in […]
“This morning [Dec. 8], in a hospital in Guatemala City, journalist and writer Luis Antonio Aceituno Solórzano, cultural editor of [the independent media outlet] eP Investiga, died. Aceituno had been under observation for a heart condition and this morning doctors confirmed that his heart had stopped beating. The Guatemalan journalist, editor and writer dedicated his […]