Jorge Agustín Zapeta Aguilar, 56, was found dead on December 16 in the rural El Aguacatal area in the municipality of San Pablo Jocopilas, in Guatemala’s southern Suchitepéquez department, according to Guatemalan newspaper La Hora. He had been reported missing since December 15, according to the report.
According to Guatemalan news website Prensa Comunitaria, prosecutors from the Public Ministry and agents from the National Civil Police responded to the scene and opened an investigation. The outlet reported that Guatemala’s National Institute of Forensic Sciences said in a press briefing that Zapeta died from blunt force trauma to the chest.
Jorge Zapeta was a journalist, community leader, and teacher who worked primarily in Guatemala’s southern rural municipalities. He hosted a regional television program titled “Libertad de Expresión.”
In a statement, the Association of Journalists of Guatemala said Zapeta’s family members told them that he had received threats in the weeks before his disappearance, though authorities have not publicly confirmed those claims.
CPJ’s email to Guatemala’s Public Ministry for comment did not receive an immediate response.
Zapeta is the second journalist killed in Guatemala in 2025. In March, journalist Ismael Alonzo González was shot dead in Quetzaltenango.