Attacks on the Press in 2008: Guatemala
Violence associated with organized crime fueled widespread self-censorship, especially in the provinces. Journalists sometimes wrote without bylines when covering dangerous subjects, but many were still attacked and threatened. Ongoing violence led to the slayings of two journalists and the kidnapping of a third.
Brutally attacked in Guatemala…again
Two days after being abducted and badly beaten in Guatemala, prominent journalist José Rubén Zamora was still in shock. “I can’t remember what happened, but I was drugged and left unconscious in a hospital in the outskirts of Guatemala City,” he told me on Saturday after he was released from the local hospital.His colleagues at…
CPJ alarmed by abduction of journalist in Guatemala
We issued the following statement today in response to Thursday’s abduction and subsequent release of Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora, a 1995 recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award: “We are alarmed by the kidnapping and reported beating of José Rubén Zamora, president of the Guatemalan daily El Periodico. Zamora has previously been the victim…
Gunshots fired at home of radio reporter
JULY 27, 2008 Posted August 6, 2008 Edín Rodelmiro Maas Bol, Radio Punto ATTACKED Unidentified individuals fired gunshots at the home of journalist Edín Rodelmiro Maas Bol moments after he had entered the house in Cobán, Alta Verapaz province, the reporter told CPJ.
CPJ condemns murder of Guatemalan journalist
New York, May 12, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of Jorge Mérida Pérez, a correspondent in Quetzatenango province for the national Guatemalan daily Prensa Libre. Mérida was shot to death in his home on Saturday afternoon. CPJ calls on the Guatemalan authorities to begin an immediate, thorough investigation into this brutal killing.
Cameraman shot and reporter beaten while covering protests
APRIL 9, 2008Posted May 9, 2008 Eduardo García, Telecentro 13 María Teresa López, Prensa Libre and Emisoras Unidas ATTACKED, HARRASED Protesters shot at García, a cameraman for the national television station Telecentro 13, while he was covering a demonstration of local residents in San Juan Alotenango, a small city 18 miles (30 kilometers) west of…
Radio station attacked in the wake of presidential elections
SEPTEMBER 4, 2007 Posted September 7, 2007 Radio Nuevo Mundo ATTACKED An unidentified individual fired a gunshot into the offices of the Guatemala City-based Radio Nuevo Mundo in the afternoon of September 4, the station’s director Marbin Robledo told CPJ. No one was injured.
Protesters detain cameraman
August 27, 2007 POSTED September 12, 2007 Edwin David Hernández, Star Chanel HARASSED Hernández, cameraman for the news program “Noti Star” on national cable channel Star Chanel, was held for more than three hours by protesters in the central Baja Verapaz province, he told CPJ.
Radio producer gunned down
New York, May 4, 2007—Veteran Guatemalan radio producer Mario Rolando López Sánchez was gunned down outside his home in Guatemala City yesterday. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether López’ murder is related to his professional work. López, producer of the political debate program “Cosas y Casos de la Vida Nacional” and various social…