Posted: March 30, 2005
Marielos Monzón, Radio Universidad
Gabriel Mazzarovich, Radio Universidad
THREATENED, HARASSED
Monzón, a radio journalist based in Guatemala City, received several threatening phone calls. Mazzarovich, Monzón's Uruguayan-born producer, was falsely reported dead to Uruguayan media.
Around 1 p.m., Monzón received three cell phone calls that appeared to come from her home phone number, she told CPJ. She answered but nobody responded. When she called home to find out if there was a problem, she was told that no one there had called her. Minutes later, she received another call that again appeared to come from her home. This time the caller, who had a masculine voice and did not identify himself, insulted and threatened her, saying at one point: "Stop defending those stinking Indians, bitch, or we're going to kill you."
Several minutes later, the Uruguayan Embassy in Guatemala City called Monzón, claiming that at least two Uruguayan media outlets had been told about Mazzarovich's death, and asking her to confirm the news. Contacted by CPJ, Mazzarovich said that unidentified individuals had called a newspaper and a radio station in Uruguay to say he had been murdered. After contacting Mazzarovich and confirming he was alive, the media outlets reported on the phone calls and denied news of his death.
Monzón and Mazzarovich work on the "Buenos Días" (Good Morning) program, broadcast by University of San Carlos' Radio Universidad 92.1 FM station. In addition, Monzón is a columnist for the Guatemala City-based daily Prensa Libre, and Mazzarovich is a correspondent for the Inter Press Service news agency.
While Monzón could not attribute the threats to any party, she believed they were linked to Radio Universidad's extensive coverage of nationwide protests against the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement, which was ratified by the Guatemalan Congress in early March and was subsequently signed by President Óscar Berger. The protests were led by Indian organizations, peasants' groups, and trade unions. At least two protesters died in clashes with police and tens more were injured.
Mazzarovich told CPJ that the false news of his death could have been an attempt to intimidate him. He also speculated that he could have been the target of an assassination and that the callers rushed to spread news of his death.
Monzón and Mazzarovich filed a formal complaint with the Ministry of the Interior and the Attorney General's Office. In addition, they contacted the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office to denounce the threats.
At the request of Guatemala's Human Rights Ombudsman, the Washington, D.C.-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has issued precautionary measures asking that the Guatemalan government guarantee journalists' safety and right to freedom of expression, Mazzarovich told CPJ.
JULY 11, 2005
Posted: July 28, 2005
Edwin Paxtor, Prensa Libre, Noti7
Denys Roldán, Prensa Libre
Bejamín Martínez, Prensa Libre
Rolando Hernández, Radio Chiquimula
Arnulfo Ortiz, Radio Chiquimula
ATTACKED
A group of peasants—and former members of a paramilitary group—attacked several journalists who were covering the takeover of a road bridge in the eastern department of Chiquimula, near the border of Honduras.
Paxtor, a reporter for the Guatemala City-based daily Prensa Libre and for Canal 7's news program "Noti7," told CPJ that after learning the peasants intended to block a bridge at the Inter-American Route, he went there with his wife, a camerawoman, to cover the protest. Once he arrived at the scene, around 8:30 a.m., a protest leader, referring to Paxtor, said, "This son of a bitch is the one we have to kill." Then about 20 peasants, Paxtor said, ran after him.
After running for several meters, Paxtor turned and began filming his persecutors, which enraged them even more, he said. Paxtor kept running until he took refuge in a hotel, from which he continued to report using his cell phone. While Paxtor was being chased, he lost a video camera and a cell phone, which were taken by the peasants and destroyed. He said that his wife, who had stayed on the other side of the bridge, sought the help of a police officer, but the police officer got on his motorcycle and fled.
Hernández, a reporter, told CPJ that he and Ortiz, a cameraman, were also filming the incident when they, too, were beaten by the peasants and had three tape recorders and a video camera stolen. Roldán and Martínez, two other Prensa Libre reporters, were hit on the back with sticks and machetes, Prensa Libre reported. Other passers-by and drivers were beaten by the peasants, according to Prensa Libre.
The peasants, former members of the Civilian Self-Defense Patrols (PAC), were demanding the resignation of Chiquimula governor Boris España and monetary compensation for their services during the country's civil war. They blocked other points in the road and congregated in front of the governor's offices. The paramilitary forces were organized by the government to fight alongside the army against leftist guerrillas in the 1980s. They were officially disarmed in 1995, but many have refused to surrender their weapons and continue to be accused of serious human rights violations.
The journalists filed a complaint with the police the day of the attack. The following day, they ratified the complaint before prosecutors, Hernández said.