FOCUS ON THE AMERICAS - International Press Institute

ElPeriodico and Prensa Libre newspapers reported
on March 12 that leaflets discrediting
their reports were being handed out on
street corners. The mayor specifically targeted
columnists Mario Antonio Sandoval
and José Rodolfo Pérez for reporting on the
inconsistent manner in which the concession
of the new transportation system had
been completed. Both newspapers also reported
that municipal security staff prevented
them from taking pictures of those
handing out the leaflets.
The most recent case of government intimidation
involved the host of critical televi-
sion program Libre Encuentro, businessman
Dionicio Gutiérrez. After a meeting
with the president and his wife, in which
he criticized the current administration,
Gutiérrez announced his retirement from
the program due, amid other things, to harassment
and death threats.
Reporter Marvin del Cid, of the daily elPeriodico,
has received numerous death threats
and his home has twice been raided by people
who stole his computers and files relating
to his investigations. When the robberies occurred,
at the end of September, he was
working on sensitive stories involving irregularities
in a government arms acquisition,
alleged corruption in a government solidarity
fund and a drug-trafficking case. During
a previous break-in at del Cid’s home on
June 24, the words “You are going to die”
were left on his bathroom mirror. Authorities
have not yet identified those responsible.
Luis Ángel Sas, a journalist for elPeriodico
also began receiving death threats on November
16 in reference to a piece he wrote
about stolen weapons and explosives
from the army that wound up in the
hands of the “Los Zetas” criminal organization
in Guatemala.
Several other news correspondents in Inland
Guatemala, who also cover issues relating
to drug trafficking and corruption,
have found themselves threatened. Journalists
often fear for their lives and those of
their families, and the authorities often do
not deliver on offers of protection.
Several other news correspondents in Inland Guatemala,
who also cover issues relating to drug trafficking and corruption,
have found themselves threatened.
On August 26, several shots were fired at
the home of journalist Edin Rodelmiro
Maaz Bol in the city of Cobán, Alta Verapaz.
According to Maaz Bol, who works for
Video Prensa, this is not the first time he
and his family have been under attack.
Both his brothers, who are also journalists,
have been assaulted. On September 10,
2006, one of the brothers, Eduardo Heriberto
Maaz Bol, was shot dead. On August
18, 2009, homemade bombs were thrown
at the house of the second brother, Félix
Waldemar Maaz Bol. Maaz Bol believes that
all of the attacks were linked to the brothers’
work as journalists.
Finally, reporter Aníbal Archila of Noti 7
was killed by volcanic stone rain while covering
a story on the eruption of the Pacaya
volcano on May 27.
Recommendations
• The government must implement policies
and legislation to ensure that those
who attack and kill journalists do not
benefit from a climate of impunity.
• The government must take measures to
ensure that the police treat journalists
professionally, and understand the vital
role and rights of the media.
• The government should respect the Law
on Access to Information that provides
for free access to information, as stated in
the Constitution.
• The authorities must investigate all cases
involving threats to journalists.
Guatemala in Brief
Population: 13.5 million
Domestic Overview:
The government’s inability to control organized
crime and police brutality continues to
be a great concern in Guatemala. President
Álvaro Colom himself was accused of involvement
in an embezzlement scandal and
the murder of lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg in
May. Furthermore, the government’s use of
the military to maintain internal security
runs counter to 1996 peace accords.
Famine conditions claimed the lives of
roughly 460 people in 2009, with approximately
80 per cent of the population living
below the poverty level. The country ranks
high on inequality statistics, with about
63 per cent of gross domestic product in
the hands of only 20 per cent of the population.
According to a report published by
Freedom House, Guatemala also has the
highest rate of child labor in the Americas.
Beyond Borders:
Guatemala is a party to the Dominican Republic-Central
American Free Trade Agreement
(DR-CAFTA) with the United States.
This agreement maintains mutually beneficial
trade and commercial relations. Agriculture
dominates the Guatemalan economy,
which employs over half the available work
force. In an effort to fight impunity and corruption,
President Colom extended the mandate
of the UN-backed International Commission
against Impunity in Guatemala
(CICIG) through to September 2011.
Violence related to drug trafficking has
spilled over from Mexico. Drug gangs operate
freely in the jungles of northern
Guatemala, which serves as a transit point
for cocaine shipping to the United States.
Left: A man walks his dog past a banner painted with
the faces of former military leaders during the "Day of
the Martyrs and Heroes" march in Guatemala City,
June 30, 2010. (REUTERS)
Central America
Honduras
By Louise Hallman
In June 2009, Honduran President Manuel
Zelaya was ousted in a military-backed coup
after attempting to hold a referendum on removing
the constitutional one-term limit to
his presidency. Since the golpe, deemed
“bloodless” by supporters, and the subsequent
election of Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo Sosa
as president in November, journalists both
for and against the coup have been murdered
in increasing numbers – and with
complete impunity. In 2010, at least nine
journalists were killed in the Central American
state, with a number of others also fleeing
for their lives, making it the second most
dangerous country in the world for journalists
this year. Prior to 2009, only two journalists
had been killed since 2000.
President Lobo has publicly expressed his
commitment to freedom of the press and
freedom of expression. However, there has
been little evidence of such a commitment.
Immediately following the coup, the media
faced censorship with acts of sabotage and
threats against journalists in an attempt to
ensure support of the golpistas. Diario
Tiempo, the only national daily to oppose
the coup, has been victim of acts of sabotage
and commercial harassment, according to
press freedom observers. With most of the
national press owned by a small group of
business magnates, who also have political
interests, much of the Honduran print
media, including daily newspapers La Tribuna,
El Heraldo and La Prensa, together
with HRN radio and the Televicentro media
group, have staunchly supported the coup,
calling it a “presidential succession.” Freedom
House also expressed concerns about
the level of self-censorship in the media.
Attacks on the media continued in 2010
with January seeing the ransacking of and
arson attack against local radio station
Faluma Bimetu or Radio Coco Dulce, which
A man walks his dog past a banner painted with the
faces
served
of former
the
military
Afro-Caribbean
leaders during the
Garifuna
"Day of the
com-
Martyrs munity and Heroes" in the march Atlantic-coast in Guatemala town City June of Triunfo
30, 2010. de la The Cruz. march The is held station every had year faced in protest numerous of
the official threats Military due to Day its celebrations. opposition to the coup. According
to Reporters Without Borders, the
station was unable to broadcast for a week.
In February, two cameramen, Manuel de
Jesús Murillo and Ricardo Antonio Rodríguez
from Globo TV and Mi Nación respectively,
who worked for former president Zelaya,
were kidnapped and tortured, allegedly by
plainclothes policemen. Press freedom advocates
have reported that they have since fled
to Nicaragua after being released.
In the first fatal attack of the year on a journalist,
on March 1, Joseph Hernández
Ochoa, 24 - a journalism student at the University
of Honduras, and a former entertainment
presenter on the privately-owned
Canal 51 TV station - was travelling with fellow
journalist Karol Cabrera, when their car
was fired on 36 times by men in another vehicle
on an unlit road in the capital, Tegucigalpa.
Hernández died at the scene, after
being shot more than 20 times in the
chest. Cabrera, an outspoken supporter of
the coup, was believed to be the main target
of the attack, having received several death
threats and survived a previous attempt on
her life in December 2009 when her pregnant
teenage daughter was shot and killed
while driving Cabrera’s car. A presenter for
the state-owned Canal 8 TV station and the
privately-owned radio station Radio Cadena
Voces (RCV), Cabrera was live on air
via telephone when the gunmen opened
fire on her vehicle. RCV’s listeners were able
hear her shouts for help during the shooting.
She suffered a broken arm and ribs.
Cabrera sought asylum in Canada in June.
Attacks on the media continued
in 2010.
Less than two weeks later, David Meza
Montesinos, a reporter at radio station El
Patio for more than 30 years, was killed
while driving home in the coastal city of La
Ceiba on March 11. His car was shot at from
another vehicle, causing Meza, 51, to lose
control and crash into a house, near his
own home. According to local sources,
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