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The arrest last July of famed Guatemalan journalist and elPeriódico president José Rubén Zamora has raised alarm among press freedom and democracy advocates around the world about Guatemala’s continued autocratic regression and what it means for the country’s independent media.
Zamora, a former winner of the ICFJ Knight International Journalism Award, has dedicated his career to unearthing corruption at the power levels.
On a recent occasion the ICFJ organized in partnership with the Committee to Protect Journalists, john S. and James L. Knight and the Inter American Press Association, journalists from across Central America spoke about Zamora’s arrest, the attacks on press freedom in Guatemala and the larger region, and what can be done to help.
He attended through Carlos Dada, co-founder and director of the Salvadoran online news site El Faro; Lucy Chay, deputy director of elPeriódico; and José Zamora, Director of Communication and Impact of Exile Content Studio, son of José Rubén Zamora. Carmen Aristegui, director and host of Aristegui Noticias, moderated the panel.
Highlights include:
Unfortunately, the attacks on elPeriódico are new, said José Zamora: During the 26 years of elPeriódico’s existence, the Guatemalan government through several administrations has introduced smear campaigns against the media, demanded monetary audits and ordered boycotts of the industry, prohibiting corporations from advertising elPeriódico. The newsroom has also suffered threats, kidnappings and assassination attempts against its journalists.
In this new attack, Alejandro Gaimmattei’s management set up its case against José Rubén Zamora in just a few days, Dada said, accusing him of money laundering, blackmail and influence peddling. According to Zamora’s lawyers, the false accusations are based on the testimony of a single witness.
ElPeriódico’s hounds continued to report and publish their investigations, despite the repression of the loose press by the existing administration. “Unfortunately, in Guatemala and in many countries in our region, the worst government is the one in power,” Zamora said.
“[Gaimmattei] has been illiberal in the face of criticism. He didn’t make any statements, he just talks to the media that support his point of view and has given some interviews to elPeriódico,” Chay said.
Given under pressure the important role played by independent media in holding the rulers accountable. “A media that does not question force, the government, does not do journalism but propaganda,” he said. “Because otherwise, there is no balance of force. “
Today, the elPeriódico team is also advancing this critical work, despite the fact that the government first froze their bank accounts. “We haven’t been paid in a month,” Chay said. And the editorial team continues to disclose acts of corruption within the government. “
“My father’s case is not the only one that exists,” Zamora said. “This is just one example of what’s in the country. “
In fact, Latin American newsrooms are being criticized for their reporting, Dada added. “I think the purpose is very clear,” he said. [A] Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba: we are witnessing an attack on the press aimed at preventing an alternative narrative to that shared through the government.
Aristegui pointed to Nicaragua as a country of particular concern. “Undoubtedly, the entire region is facing this problem. We saw yesterday, for example, what happened in front of La Prensa in Nicaragua,” he said, referring to how the government took over the facilities. of the opposition media to turn it into a “cultural center”, a year after the newsroom left the country.
In Mexico, the killing of journalist Fredid Román makes him the 15th journalist killed in the country this year, Aristegui also said.
The government’s ultimate goal is to silence journalists, Dada explained: “Our investigations directly have a monopoly on power. “
Since the webinar, José Rubén Zamora has been in good condition, according to José Zamora. He writes from his cell, hoping to keep fighting and denouncing.
“The very few times they allowed us to make a stopover in it, at the end of the scale in, he gave us a book, many things he wrote by hand,” Zamora said.
Carlos Jornet, chairman of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information of the Inter American Press Association, delivered the closing speech of the event. He suggested that others continue to communicate about the arrest of José Rubén Zamora.
“Those of us who, in the values of freedom and democracy, have a legal responsibility to do so. We will have to dedicate ourselves to making our voice heard in the case of José Rubén Zamora,” Jornet said. “We want to be heard throughout the hemisphere and beyond. “
Carlos Dada is the winner of this year’s ICFJ Knight Trailblazer Award. Carmen Aristegui won the Knight International Journalism Award from the ICFJ in 2016.
Main symbol credit: Agence France-Presse.
Annie Jennemann is a communications intern at ICFJ. Lately he is a master’s student at the University of Missouri -Columbia and is a knowledge journalist.