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Threatened
February 2
José Ruben Zamora Marroquín, Siglo Veintiuno, THREATENED
Zamora, editor in chief of the independent daily Siglo Veintiuno, received several anonymous death threats after his newspaper published the transcript of a videotaped interview with a former military officer. In the interview, the now- exiled officer accused a group of high-ranking military officers of participating in organized crime activities, including drug trafficking and car theft.
February 28
Vinicio Pacheco, Radio Sonora, ATTACKED, THREATENED
Pacheco, a reporter with the radio station Radio Sonora, was abducted in the center of Guatemala City by unidentified men who forced him into their vehicle. Pacheco, who covers the judicial system for his station, was freed only after being beaten and tortured for several hours. His captors blindfolded him and burnt him with cigarettes, and they played recordings of his reports on a wave of car thefts, kidnappings and drug trafficking. Before he was released several miles outside of Guatemala City, they slashed his feet. According to Radio Sonora's director, Eduardo Mendoza, the captors held a gun to Pacheco's head and told him, “The only reason we won't kill you is so that you will give this message to other journalists.” In a letter to President Alvaro Arzu, CPJ called on the government of Guatemala to order an investigation into the incident and to bring those responsible to justice. Three weeks after his abduction, Pacheco left Guatemala for Costa Rica due to continuing threats directed at Radio Sonora.
March 8
Haroldo Shetemul, Crónica Semanal, THREATENED
Gustavo Berganza, Crónica Semanal, THREATENED
Estuardo Zepeta, Crónica Semanal, THREATENED
Mario Alberto Carrera, Crónica Semanal, THREATENED
Marta Altolaguirre, Siglo Veintiuno, THREATENED
Carlos Rafael Soto, El Gráfico, THREATENED
Berganza, director of the weekly magazine Crónica Semanal; Shetemul, its deputy director; its columnists Zapeta and Carrera; Altolaguirre, a columnist for the daily Siglo Veintiuno; and Soto, a columnist for the morning paper El Gráfico, were named in an anonymous death list distributed by an unidentified organization in Guatemala City. A notice with the list stated that the journalists named would be put to death for having “betrayed the fatherland.” The group sent the list to each journalist listed and announced that it would reveal its name once it had carried out the first execution. CPJ urged the government to investigate the death threats.
April 11
Juan José Yantuche, TV Noticias, KILLED
Oscar Mazaya, TV Noticias, THREATENED
Yantuche, a reporter with the cable television news program “TV Noticias,” died from injuries inflicted by gunshots. The gravely injured Yantuche was found in his car in the city of Mixco one week earlier. He was hospitalized and remained in a coma until he died. Yantuche's murder came a few weeks after an anonymously penned death list of journalists was circulated in Guatemala City. His name, however, was not on that list. One week after Yantuche's assassination, Oscar Mazaya, the director of “TV Noticias,” reported receiving anonymous death threats. In a letter to Guatemalan President Alvaro Arzú, CPJ protested the lack of thorough police investigations into Yantuche's murder and the death threats against Mazaya.
For more information contact americasweb@cpj.org