Guatemala

Two days after being abducted and badly beaten in Guatemala, prominent journalist José Rubén Zamora was still in shock. "I can't remember what happened, but I was drugged and left unconscious in a hospital in the outskirts of Guatemala City," he told me on Saturday after he was released from the local hospital.

His colleagues at the daily elPeriodico and members of the local media were stunned by the news on Thursday. Rumors had spread that morning that Zamora had been killed. Claudia Mendez, an editor at the paper, told me that she started crying. Zamora, a 1995 recipient of CPJ's International Press Freedom Award, is considered one of the top investigative journalists in Central America by his peers.

We issued the following statement today in response to Thursday's abduction and subsequent release of Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora, a 1995 recipient of CPJ's International Press Freedom Award:

"We are alarmed by the kidnapping and reported beating of José Rubén Zamora, president of the Guatemalan daily El Periodico. Zamora has previously been the victim of attacks in retaliation for his paper's investigative work," said CPJ's Americas Senior Program Coordinator, Carlos Lauría. "Authorities should conduct a prompt and exhaustive investigation into this crime, and provide Zamora and El Periodico's staff with the necessary protection to continue working without fear of reprisal."

JULY 27, 2008

Posted August 6, 2008

Edín Rodelmiro Maas Bol, Radio Punto
ATTACKED

Unidentified individuals fired gunshots at the home of journalist Edín Rodelmiro Maas Bol moments after he had entered the house in Cobán, Alta Verapaz province, the reporter told CPJ.

New York, May 12, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of Jorge Mérida Pérez, a correspondent in Quetzatenango province for the national Guatemalan daily Prensa Libre. Mérida was shot to death in his home on Saturday afternoon. CPJ calls on the Guatemalan authorities to begin an immediate, thorough investigation into this brutal killing.

APRIL 9, 2008Posted May 9, 2008

Eduardo García, Telecentro 13
María Teresa López, Prensa Libre and Emisoras Unidas
ATTACKED, HARRASED

Protesters shot at García, a cameraman for the national television station Telecentro 13, while he was covering a demonstration of local residents in San Juan Alotenango, a small city 18 miles (30 kilometers) west of Guatemala City. Colleagues told CPJ the journalist was in stable condition.

SEPTEMBER 4, 2007
Posted September 7, 2007

Radio Nuevo Mundo
ATTACKED

An unidentified individual fired a gunshot into the offices of the Guatemala City-based Radio Nuevo Mundo in the afternoon of September 4, the station’s director Marbin Robledo told CPJ. No one was injured.

August 27, 2007
POSTED September 12, 2007

Edwin David Hernández, Star Chanel
HARASSED

Hernández, cameraman for the news program “Noti Star” on national cable channel Star Chanel, was held for more than three hours by protesters in the central Baja Verapaz province, he told CPJ.

New York, May 4, 2007—Veteran Guatemalan radio producer Mario Rolando López Sánchez was gunned down outside his home in Guatemala City yesterday. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether López’ murder is related to his professional work.

López, producer of the political debate program “Cosas y Casos de la Vida Nacional” and various social programs on national privately-owned Radio Sonora, was shot at 7 p.m. as he was walking from his car to his home in a northern neighborhood in Guatemala City, according to local press reports and CPJ interviews.