Julia Gavarrete, (Chalatenango, El Salvador, 33 years old) dedicated more than two months of work to recounting the desperate flight of a mother and her two children, who in the past was prosecuted (and acquitted) for terrorist association, in the report
Una family that owes nothing flees from the emergency regime
, published in the newspaper
El Faro
and awarded the Ortega y Gasset Prize for the best story or journalistic investigation of 2022. The Government of Nayib Bukele imposed a state of emergency in March 2022 to combat the gangs that for decades made the Central American country one of the most violent of the world.
But with this exceptionality, which will soon be one year old, also came the lack of constitutional guarantees and the list of authoritarian outrages by the regime.
The story for which he received the award came into his hands in May 2022. “A trusted source told me about Norma and her children Lorena and Gustavo (figurative names to preserve their anonymity).
The family was overwhelmed, traumatized, because they had to move continuously since the emergency regime began for fear of being arrested by the police, ”she explains.
Other acquaintances in her community in a similar situation had been arrested by the police.
Fear returned to her lives after, in 2017, Norma's family was prosecuted for alleged terrorist association.
The case was dismissed and they were released, but the horror that the situation would repeat itself with the new government made them escape last year with what they were wearing.
The reporter addressed the drama of the forced displacement of Salvadoran citizens by the emergency regime and turned to her story.
She contacted the family during one of those accommodation changes and held regular meetings for two months.
She took time to "let them talk, to process her pain, and to be there when they needed it."
Gavarrete recalls that Norma, her mother, —staying awake at night— took the opportunity to rest when she came to the room to baste the story.
Little by little, she earned the trust of all three, which she still maintains today.
“I feel very happy with this report because I think it has given them more strength.
That is why this award is a recognition of their courage ”, she maintains.
The journalist was clear from a very young age that she wanted to tell stories, which is why she chose this profession.
Today she writes about the political news of her country in
El Faro
, a reference newspaper in El Salvador;
at the same time that she collaborates with foreign media such as CNN or Univisión.
“Unfortunately, they are strong stories, of inequality, of migration, of gender violence, of violence generated by gangs… El Salvador is full of strong stories,” she affirms.
Written journalism caught her at university, although now she is committed to also working on stories with a more audiovisual format.
“As a journalist there is a great commitment to these cases.
I believe that what we do will serve to vindicate the people who approach us, despite fear and threats.
Having the privilege of telling those stories and getting closer to the victims of a regime that has restricted many rights is one of the biggest motivations to continue ”, she assures.
Gavarrete works in a complicated environment, with an exception regime in force, spied on —along with other colleagues from the Salvadoran newspaper— with the
Pegasus
software , and a
gag law
that he can take her to prison if her work causes, in the opinion of the official authorities, capsizing the country.
"We live day to day under paranoia," she admits.
"Pegasus's capacity is enormous and involves intervening calls, but also opening the camera, the microphone, having real-time location, accessing and downloading images and videos from our phones," she says.
They have resorted to alternative, more secure channels in their communications.
“We have not yet had access to the contracts that confirm that it has been the Government of El Salvador who has spied on us, but we have been intervened,” she points out.
She is concerned about the bullying and harassment she receives through social networks: "The exposure is so intense [by
trolls
who seek to provoke controversy and conflict, but also from officials] that mentally it is about who can take it more," she asserts. .
Leave the country?
“I am interested in telling stories here because El Salvador has a lot of them.
That is what keeps me rooted to my country,” she adds.
The family featured in his report continues to hide.
“I think they are not the only ones, so I try to vindicate the voices of the victims of a system that has never stood by them.
A system that has historically incriminated them and that now persecutes them again without giving them the chance to defend themselves”, she concludes.