Guatemala

New York, May 2, 2013--The Guatemalan news outlet elPeriódico has been targeted in a series of cyberattacks as it published stories alleging corruption in President Otto Pérez Molina's administration. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities to investigate immediately and put an end to the harassment.

Dear OAS Ministers of Foreign Affairs: Ahead of the assembly of the Organization of American States on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists urges you to oppose any attempts to debilitate the regional human rights system. The failure of member states to preserve the autonomy and independence of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its special rapporteur on freedom of expression would make citizens throughout the hemisphere more vulnerable to human rights violations and represent a blow to democracy in the Americas.

For seven years I lived in Panajachel, a tourist town on the beautiful Atitlán Lake in Guatemala. There, my husband, Juan Miguel Arrivillaga, and I started a family and the independent news outlet Anti Magazine. We also hosted a radio program on the local station Radio Ati.

Journalists increasingly practiced self-censorship as Mexican drug cartels expanded their presence in Guatemala. In May, criminals in four provinces hung banners in public places, threatening journalists with harm if gang activities were covered. A television journalist in southern Escuintla province was killed under unclear circumstances after receiving several threats. While the rise of criminal groups posed a growing risk, journalists also faced danger for coverage of official corruption and domestic security issues. In the southwestern city of Quetzaltenango, a television journalist and his family escaped injury when their van came under gunfire. The reporter had received death threats related to his coverage of police corruption. A columnist in the western city of Panajachel was forced to relocate after receiving a series of intimidating text messages concerning her coverage of a citizen security committee. The local press group CERIGUA documented an increase in press freedom violations in the months leading up to the November presidential elections, as well as a number of assaults and threats against journalists on Election Day. Otto Pérez Molina, a retired general running on the conservative Patriotic Party ticket, defeated businessman Manuel Baldizón in a runoff. Facing a murder rate among the highest in the world, Pérez pledged a tough approach on crime.              

New York, November 1, 2011--A Guatemalan newspaper columnist has faced intimidation and harassment after writing a piece that raised questions about the disappearance of a person in the western city of Panajachel. The journalist, Lucía Escobar, said she fled the city on Friday after growing fearful.

New York, May 20, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Guatemalan authorities to launch a thorough investigation into the death of television journalist and teacher Yensi Roberto Ordoñez Galdámez, at left, who was found dead Thursday in southern Escuintla province.  

According to press reports, Ordoñez's body was discovered Thursday in a black vehicle parked outside the primary school where he taught. He had knife wounds in the neck and chest, according to the volunteer firefighters who found him. 

New York, February 9, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the safety of Guatemalan television journalist Oscar de León, who has received multiple death threats and had his van shot at in the southwestern municipality of Quetzaltenango, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. De León, a correspondent for the private national Guatevisión TV network, said he has received the threats since he probed alleged police corruption.

New York, July 2, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a death threat against a Guatemalan investigative journalist with the leading daily elPeriódico, who recently reported on corruption and human trafficking.

New York, June 8, 2009--An unidentified gunman shot and killed Guatemalan television reporter Marco Antonio Estrada on Saturday night in the eastern city of Chiquimula, the local press reported.