Guatemala / Americas

  
Guatemalans remember those killed in the country's 36-year civil conflict in Guatemala City, February 25, 2016. (Reuters/Josue Decavele)

Guatemalan journalist faces threats, intimidation

New York, June 30, 2017–Guatemalan authorities should thoroughly investigate the threats against journalist Marielos Monzón, an investigative reporter and contributor to the newspaper Prensa Libre, and should ensure her safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Guatemalan TV journalist survives gunshot to head

Two unidentified gunmen on June 14, 2017, shot Carlos Danilo Rodríguez Ixtecox, the owner and director of the local TV channel Multiviral Canal 19, in a small grocery store his family owns in Puerto Barrios, on Guatemala’s Caribbean coast.

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Officials inspect a crime scene in Guatemala City in 2013. High rates of street crime and violence make it hard to determine if victims are targeted for their work as journalists. (AFP/Johan Ordonez)

Searching for answers in murder cases amid violence and corruption in Guatemala

On June 25, unidentified assailants shot and killed Álvaro Aceituno López, director of Radio Ilusión in Coatepeque, a town in southeastern Guatemala. López often criticized local government officials when presenting the news and during guest appearances on other programs. But to date, CPJ has been unable to determine if Aceituno was killed for his work…

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Guatemalan radio journalist Álvaro Alfredo Aceituno López, shown here in a frame from a video posted to YouTube, was murdered on June 25, 2016. (CERIGUA)

Radio journalist murdered in Guatemala

New York, June 28, 2016 — Guatemalan authorities should conduct a thorough and credible investigation into the murder of the director of a radio station and bring all those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Two journalists shot dead in Guatemala, another wounded

Bogotá, Colombia, March 11, 2015–Two gunmen shot dead two journalists and injured a third in Guatemala on Tuesday, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Guatemalan authorities to carry out a thorough investigation into the attack and ensure the perpetrators are held to account.

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Who is killing Central America’s journalists?

Widespread violence and impunity leave murders unsolved Amid the violence and instability caused by organized crime and corruption in Central America, Honduras and Guatemala have experienced an alarming rise in the number of murders of, and attacks against, journalists. Near complete impunity for these crimes means the cases go mostly unsolved and the motives unexplained.…

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Attacks on the Press in 2013: Guatemala

Journalists covering sensitive issues like crime and corruption faced a climate of increased intimidation and violence in 2013. One journalist was killed under unclear circumstances. CPJ continues to investigate to determine if the killing was work-related. Another journalist survived an assassination attempt, and the owner, staff, and website of the daily elPeriódico, which is known…

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Guatemalan government targets elPeriódico editor

New York, January 8, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns legal efforts in the past weeks by the president and vice president of Guatemala that are designed to stifle critical reporting by elPeriódico and its editor, José Rubén Zamora Marroquín. Over the course of the past year, the Guatemala City-based daily has published a series…

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CPJ

Defining success in the fight against impunity

For the second time this year, the U.N. Security Council took up the issue of protection of journalists. In a discussion today sponsored by the French and Guatemalan delegations, and open to NGOs, speaker after speaker and country after country hammered home the same essential facts: The vast majority of journalists murdered around the world…

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One journalist murdered, another attacked, in Guatemala

New York, August 20, 2013–Authorities in Guatemala should conduct a full investigation into the murder of a TV and radio journalist who was found on Monday after being reported missing for several hours, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Carlos Alberto Orellana Chávez was killed seven days after another journalist was shot and wounded…

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