This year marks the end of the term of President Oscar Berger during which there was a marked improvement in conditions for the practice of journalism compared with the previous four years.
General elections were held on October 9, and since none of the candidates received the 50% plus one vote required by the Election Law, the two candidates with the most votes will compete in a runoff on November 4. They are social democrat Alfaro Colom and retired general Otto Pérez.
During the campaign, the print, radio and television media were able to provide news without confronting pressure or censorship.
Nevertheless, there were isolated incidents such as a double attack against radio station Nuevo Mundo, one of the oldest in the country. The station management reported that on the night of September 11 several people entered the transmitter, located on Alux Hill, and stole and destroyed equipment, causing considerable damage.
A few days earlier, on September 4, unidentified people shot at the roof of its main office in the historic center of the capital, endangering reporters and engineers who work there.
In Retahuleu on the southern coast, journalist César Augusto López Valle reported that he and his family had been threatened with death because of a series of articles in the magazine Panorama about corruption in the provincial government.
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Madrid, Spain