The arrest and court case of journalist José Rubén Zamora raises suspicions of a strategy by the Guatemalan government to silence the press and even political opponents in the midst of an electoral campaign flooded with allegations of corruption, according to analyses by journalists and human rights experts.
In a year of hostility and opacity towards journalism by the Guatemalan government, Prensa Libre and Guatevisión reporter Carlos Kestler was chosen as a finalist for the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist of the Year award for his special 'Broken Connectivity.'
The "No fue el fuego" [It wasn’t the fire] special, winner of the Gabo 2022 Award for Coverage, achieves a harmonious convergence of different formats in a transmedia investigation of a fire in which 41 girls lost their lives in Guatemala.
Faced with the recent escalation of attacks on freedoms of the press and expression in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, journalists from these countries have come together to create the Red Centroamericana de Periodistas [Central American Network of Journalists]. Guatemalan Marielos Monzón, one of the Network’s founders, spoke to LatAm Journalism Review (LJR) about the goals and lines of work of this initiative in defense of journalism and the citizens’ right to be informed.
During the LATAM Festival of Digital Media and Journalism, journalists from Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela shared how they go around the opacity and hostility of their governments. They agreed that the lack of transparency and access to information can cost human lives.
The arrest of José Rubén Zamora, journalist, founder and president of elPeriódico newspaper in Guatemala, has drawn international attention to the worsening of press freedom and the right to information in Guatemala. Journalists interviewed by LatAm Journalism Review (LJR) said that the arrest of one of the best-known names in Guatemalan journalism is a serious development in the escalation of attacks against the press critical of President Alejandro Giammattei's administration.
The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) held the panel "Imprisoned for reporting: Guatemalan authorities target a prominent journalist" to discuss the case of journalist José Ruben Zamora, who will soon complete a month in prison. The panel was attended by Carmen Aristegui, Lucy Chay, Carlos Dada, José Zamora (son) and Carlos Jornet.
Statistical data shows that in the last three years, the most common response of the Guatemalan public prosecutor to cases of attacks against journalists was dismissal. Only 1 percent of the cases end up with a conviction. Under Attorney General María Consuelo Porras, the budget to investigate crimes against this profession was reduced by 77 percent.
Across Latin America, governments have attempted different models to investigate and prosecute attacks against journalists. It is evident that there is no unified model for creating an office to investigate and prosecute crimes against journalists. Some countries have special prosecutors, while other countries have investigative units. Moreover, the results of their efforts are often difficult to track, according to experts.
Exactly a decade ago, the government of Guatemala committed to creating a plan to protect press workers in the face of growing attacks. That happened in 2012 during a government favorable to the idea, yet all these years later, it still hasn’t been achieved. Some journalists point to a distrust between the government and the press as a source of the problem.