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.
While legal harassment of well-known Guatemala City journalists José Rubén Zamora, publisher of the daily elPeriódico, and Juan Luis Font of the broadcast analysis program Con Criterio have made international news in recent months, less well-known are attacks against vulnerable journalists who live away from the capital—in provincial cities and in the rural areas of […]
The spike of public protests that sometimes turned violent has not been met with enough preparation by Latin American journalists who find themselves in the midst of confrontations, experts say.
Given the recent increase in attacks and harassment of journalists in the Central American country, Prensa Contra la Censura intends to raise awareness among Guatemalans as to the importance of defending independent journalism.
A group of organizations, media, and journalists from the region, have come together to create RedLEAL, Network for the Defense of Freedom of Expression in Latin America. The objective of the group is to establish a solidarity network and give visibility to under-reported cases of violations of freedom of expression in Latin America.
“I would like to see this forum as an opportunity to reflect on our situation, to start a conversation that leads us to face together, better organized and accompanied, the wave of orchestrated attacks on Central American journalism from each of our governments. Together, organized, we will better resist” said Carlos Dada at the Central American Journalism Forum.