The media most critical of the Central American country's current government has not been able to resist the judicial persecution and the financial drowning. 'elPeriódico' of Guatemala has officially communicated the cessation of its operations as of the beginning of May 15. "The medium had two months left to live, but we have resisted 287 days," said the newspaper's management through a statement released early this Friday, via social networks. The outlet has resisted almost a year of persecution, political and economic pressure from the regime of Alejandro Giammattei, the president whose government has a 75% approval rating, the worst evaluation of a Guatemalan president since the last three decades, according to the latest publication. of the polling firm ProDatos.
287 days have passed since that July 29, 2022, when the president of 'elPeriódico' José Rubén Zamora was arrested, and his collaborators forced to remain in the offices of the newspaper, hanging 16 hours without communication, food or access to medicines, hanging the raids orchestrated by the National Civil Police and the Special Prosecutor's Office against Impunity (FECI) of the Public Ministry, led by Rafael Curruchiche, the prosecutor included in the Engel List of corrupt actors of the United States Department of State.
Zamora had anticipated his capture, after ten months of denouncing that the current regime was fabricating cases against him and after having published more than 100 sober investigations into multiple corruption networks that operate under government tutelage. Finally, the journalist was arrested for a case he articulated in less than 72 hours and which has set off all the alarms of the international community and human rights and freedom of expression organizations, which have repeatedly called for his immediate release. In addition to Zamora, who is facing trial for alleged money laundering, the outlet he has led for more than two decades is also being harassed. The Government pressures its advertisers to withhold the newspaper's advertising and threaten its collaborators so that they avoid covering the judicial case and any matter related to the presidential figure.
“The attacks did not stop. So far, four lawyers have been arrested, two are still in pretrial detention, six journalists and three columnists are being investigated by the Curruchiche FECI and Zamora has accumulated four criminal cases against them, ”he explains in the statement.
six lawyers
Yes, there is no one to defend Zamora. The journalist has been the victim of questionable maneuvers by the prosecution to separate, one by one, all the lawyers who have provided their services in court. In the time that the criminal process has elapsed, since July 29, 2022, six lawyers have resigned their defense for different reasons and have then been linked to the process by the tax. Mario Castañeda, Romeo Montoya, Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa and Justino Brito Torrez represented in Zamora and are now in pretrial detention or sentenced for trying to obstruct justice. The fifth lawyer, Ricardo Sergio Szejner Orczyk, left Zamora's defense due to heart problems and the sixth and last lawyer, Emma Patricia Guillermo De Chea, was fired by the journalist after only a few days in office. Zamora has requested that his defense be carried out by a lawyer from the Institute of Public Criminal Defense, which the State provides to those who do not have the resources to opt for a private defense.
Zamora has been the victim of questionable maneuvers by the prosecution to separate, one by one, all the lawyers who have provided their services in court
The most notorious case of defense lawyers has been that of Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa, who in addition to serving as the journalist's third party, was also running for mayor's office in Guatemala City. Solórzano Foppa was captured on April 20 accused of committing the crime of obstructing criminal proceedings in the Blackmail, Impunity and Money Laundering case, in which Zamora is linked. His capture occurred days after a public opinion poll placed him in the second position of voting preference for the general elections that would take place on June 25.
Product of the persecution, @el_Periodico is forced to cease its publication.
A hard blow for the fight for democracy and freedom of the press in Central America.
Our solidarity with the journalists of @el_Periodico and all those who suffer harassment and censorship in the region. pic.twitter.com/OS3VjdaepJ
— Juan Pappier (@JuanPappierHRW) May 12, 2023
"The only thing left for us to do is thank all our readers and our clients for always believing in 'elPeriódico' and for the solidarity they have shown us." Thus, after 27 years, the award-winning newspaper that published the investigations that brought down governments and denounced multiple violations linked to drug trafficking, organized crime and abuse of authority within the circles of power closes its doors.
