The level of attacks against press freedom, legal/judicial persecution, and violence remained during this period. Among the most relevant cases of violence are the murder of one journalist and the disappearance of another.
The level of attacks against press freedom, legal/judicial persecution, and violence remained during this period. Among the most relevant cases of violence are the murder of one journalist and the disappearance of another.
Journalism continued to suffer attacks and persecution from the Public Ministry. The most emblematic case was that of journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, who, after being released to enter a regime of house arrest at the end of last year, was imprisoned again in Mariscal Zabala prison on March 10 by order of Judge Erick García.
The magistrate, who had granted Zamora the previous substitute measures, declared that he had been a victim of threats and intimidation. These actions demonstrate the power of corruption networks, which prevent the journalist from defending himself legally and appropriately. Various press organizations—including the Association of Journalists of Guatemala (APG) and the Inter-American Press Society (SIP)—denounced these legal aggressions against the journalist.
The Constitutional Court rejected a petition to prevent journalists and opinion columnists from being investigated for obstruction of justice for their comments and notes on the process against Zamora. Organizations and lawyers denounced that this court resolution allows the criminalization of opinion and disregards what is established by the Law of Thought Emission (of constitutional order) regarding the Press Courts that protect press freedom.
Another relevant case is journalist Juan Luis Font, who has been in exile since 2023 and has had an arrest warrant since 2024. Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, from the Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity, accuses him of collusion and bribery. Font was denounced by former minister Alejandro Sinibaldi, who is charged with acts of corruption.
In other legal attacks, Diego España, from La Hora, was denounced by a Public Ministry prosecutor for violence against women. Other executives of the newspaper La Hora received judicial accusations from Alejandra Carrillo, executive secretary of the Coordinating Instance for the Modernization of the Justice Sector.
Several cases of aggression against journalists by public officials were recorded, mostly in entities in the country's interior. Local and national media faced difficulties with sources from the municipalities to obtain information or were denied access to data, accusing them of being paid by sectors of the political opposition. Also, given the advance of drug trafficking and the lack of security, journalists often opt for self-censorship.
In one of the most relevant events, on March 21, the murder of community journalist Ismael Alonzo González was recorded. He was shot dead in the village of Santa Fe, Coatepeque, Quetzaltenango. González worked for the media outlet Coatepeque Despertar Occidental 2.0. The commissioner of the National Civil Police, Edu Ardiano, indicated that it could have been an attack carried out by alleged gang members operating in the area.
On February 7, the disappearance of journalist Milton Polanco was recorded. Polanco has a professional career of 37 years in Jutiapa, in the eastern part of the country. His whereabouts are unknown.
