Niño de Guzmán, 42, news director for the La Paz-based
Agencia de Noticias Fides, was found dead on April 21, the victim of an explosive
device, after being reported missing two days earlier.
Niño de Guzmán’s body was discovered around midday in La Paz’s Retamanis neighborhood near the Orkojahuira River,
news reports said. A forensic report said the explosive device had destroyed
the journalist’s abdomen, according to press reports.
News reports, citing police, said the death occurred
sometime early on April 20. La Fuerza Especial de Lucha Contra el Crimen, the
special investigative unit of the Bolivian police, was investigating several
theories for the journalist’s death, news reports said.
Julieta Tovar, a reporter for Agencia de Noticias Fides,
told CPJ she was not aware of any threats against Niño de Guzmán. Police said
none of the journalist’s belongings had been stolen, news reports said.
During his 16 years as a journalist, Niño de Guzmán worked
for several top news dailies, including La Razón and El Diario,
and for Cadena A television. He joined Agencia de Noticias Fides, a
Jesuit-affiliated agency, as a reporter in 2006 and became news director in
March 2010. In a statement, five Bolivian press organizations called on
authorities to investigate Niño de Guzmán’s death, adding that a
journalism-related motive should not be ruled out, Los Tiempos reported.