There was an improvement in the panorama of freedom of the press and freedom of expression during this period.
Following criticism, the new government has maintained a more open attitude towards the press and reversed a measure restricting coverage and access to the National Palace.
In May, an incident was reported between several journalists from the city of Quetzaltenango and members of the Secretariat of Administrative and Security Affairs of the Presidency of the Republic (SAAS). According to the Association of Journalists of Guatemala (APG) complaint, "they hindered the informative work of the press by detaining ten journalists during a commemorative act of President Bernardo Arévalo."
Legal actions against journalists persist. The most emblematic case is that of José Rubén Zamora, founder of elPeriódico. On October 19, after 812 days of unjust and arbitrary imprisonment, a judge granted Zamora house arrest. The magistrate ruled that, for human rights reasons, the period of preventive detention had exceeded the limits. Zamora, who considers himself a victim of political persecution by the previous government, faces several charges in two different trials.
In August, the Ninth Criminal Sentencing Court had granted Zamora a substitute measure of house arrest, but it could not be implemented at that time due to another case against him involving forgery of signatures on immigration documents.
The strategy of the Public Prosecutor's Office is to request that the cases be declared "in reserve" so that information cannot be released without a judge's order and, therefore, if someone believes that he is being investigated, he cannot request information. This situation is experienced by journalist Juan Luis Font, director of the Con Criterio program.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) visited the country to observe the impacts of a process of weakening democratic institutions and judicial independence. Among the conclusions of the IACHR it denounced that criminalization and legal harassment are spreading against journalists, lawyers, students, and even the president and vice-president of the country.
On August 30, Prensa Comunitaria documented that in the Torre de Tribunales, there were at least three attacks against journalistic activity. The events occurred during the criminal proceedings against lawyer Claudia González, former judicial director of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).
Among these attacks, former judge Blanca Stalling sued a journalist, Revista Ruda, for taking photographs of her. She asked for the journalist's press card and also photographed her.
Judge Jimi Bremer ordered the closure of the room where the hearing was being held and thus restricted journalistic activity, an action contrary to a resolution of the First Court of Appeals, which ordered the hearing to be held in a room with space for the media and observers to attend.
The judge ordered another action against the press to the Internal Affairs Prosecutor's Office of the Public Prosecutor's Office to present a report on the journalistic publications of this process because, in Bremer's opinion, the media distorts the information. He also indicated that he feels in danger and that prosecutor Brenda García and former judge Stalling also feel threatened.
On September 4, the APG rejected an armed attack against the house of journalist Carlos Monroy, presumably by someone affected by his publications
