Persecution of the press: Guatemala's 'ElPeriódico' announces its closure in the face of government harassment

Journalist José Rubén Zamora, founder of Guatemala's 'ElPeriódico', in court. Esteban Biba (EFE)

The newspaper ElPeriódico of Guatemala has published this Friday a statement that is at the same time its epitaph: after 287 days of the arrest of its director and founder, José Rubén Zamora, and after enduring that time "persecution, political and economic pressures", the media has decided to close its operations. Next Monday, May 15, the latest edition of this publication will be released, which for years has investigated the corruption that prevails in this Central American country.

The government of Alejandro Giammattei, through prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, began an onslaught against the newspaper on July 29, 2022, when they arrested José Rubén Zamora and raided the editorial office of ElPeriódico. This publication was born in 1996 and during its almost 30 years of life it exposed and denounced a multitude of cases of state corruption, including the scandals that led to the fall of the Government of Otto Pérez Molina in 2015.

"ElPeriódico received a resounding blow. After ten months of denouncing that the current regime was fabricating cases against him, Jose Rubén Zamora was captured for an articulated case in less than 72 hours," the statement said. "From that moment the battle to resist began and the forecasts were not hopeful. According to the calculations of the financial staff and given the circumstances, the medium had two months to live. But it didn't. Thanks to the solidarity of our loyal readers, our advertisers and the support of international organizations that believe in independent journalism and democracy, our team withstood 287 days of persecution, political and economic pressures."

In parallel, the founder of ElPeriódico faces a trial that his relatives and journalists have described as "political." José Rubén Zamora is accused by prosecutors of money laundering and blackmail, charges he claims are retaliation for his journalistic publications. On May 3, when the process criticized for multiple "irregularities" began, the same defendant announced that he will be "sentenced." "I am a political prisoner and I have been treated as such," Zamora said.

ElPeriódico highlights in its statement "that the attacks did not stop." "So far, four lawyers have been detained, two are still in pretrial detention, six journalists and three columnists are being investigated by Rafael Curruchiche's FECI (Special Prosecutor's Office against Impunity) and Jose Rubén Zamora has accumulated four criminal cases against him."

José Zamora, son of the accused journalist, told EL PAÍS that "it is impossible to dissociate" what happened to ElPeriódico with his father's case. "Since the state kidnapped him almost ten months ago, it has become increasingly difficult to get the financial support needed to keep the environment operating. Advertisers are very frightened to see that the persecution of the State not only continues, but intensifies... So they preferred not to put their ads in the newspaper or give donations because the state also persecutes them."

José Zamora explains that ElPeriodico's staff consisted of 30 people, but the Guatemalan justice system opened cases against nine of them. "This financial siege made it increasingly impossible to pay the payroll, that is, not to meet their salaries on time ... Although the entire team was and is extremely committed to the newspaper and the mission of doing journalism, it is extremely difficult to continue. And the most responsible thing to protect the team, and also with the financial issue, was to stop publishing, "laments the son of the accused, also a journalist.

'It's terrible for democracy'

The closure of ElPeriódico is a major blow to press freedom in Guatemala, but also to a Central America traversed by authoritarianisms that have declared war on journalism and reporters. "All this is terrible for the country, for all Guatemalans. It's terrible for democracy because it empowers these repressive, authoritarian characters. It is one more step to establish a totally corrupt system. It is one more step to turn Guatemala into Nicaragua, Venezuela or Cuba," says José Zamora.

Justice controlled by Giammattei's government has also unleashed a persecution against at least 35 critical judges and prosecutors, who – like more than 20 journalists – have gone into exile. In addition, in the face of the 2023 general elections, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal has disqualified the candidacies of formulas that attack the "corrupt system", as is the case of Thelma Cabrera, indigenous leader and Jordán Rodas, former Human Rights Ombudsman.

José Luis Font, a journalist in exile, tells EL PAÍS that the closure of ElPeriódico "was always the objective" of Giammattei's administration. "Also of the financiers of the Foundation against Terrorism and the Public Ministry, which served as an instrument of a government that maintains co-opted the Courts," he says. "A ruling alliance that has practically taken control of all the institutions of the Republic and that has no counterweights in that power, can achieve something as negative as closing the only newspaper that for years was dedicated to investigating corruption in a constant and effective manner in Guatemala."

Font, who worked at ElPeriódico, adds that many of the corruption cases that were uncovered under the tutelage of José Rubén Zamora were successfully brought to court by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala – CICIG), dismantled in 2018 by former President Jimmy Morales.

"The reasons why ElPeriódico has always faced economic difficulties and animosity in different governments are obvious: It documented that corruption for a long time. It is a setback for freedom of expression, for freedom of the press and for the freedom of people to have access to information in Guatemala. But this is not the end of the story," says Font.

Meanwhile, in Guatemala, the journalists of this newspaper express in the statement, which seems more like the epitaph of this newsroom, that "it has been ten arduous months of resistance and struggle." "In November 2022 we ceased the print edition and focused on our digital edition. We thought we could adapt, transform and survive. On the contrary, the persecution intensified, as did the harassment of our advertisers, and maintaining our operations became increasingly difficult."

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