An employee arranges copies of the newspaper elPeriódico, in Guatemala City, on August 2, 2022.LUIS ECHEVERRIA
The editorial staff of elPeriódico de Guatemala says goodbye to its readers on Monday. The newspaper, which since its founding in 1996 became a benchmark for investigative journalism in the Central American country, has closed on Monday after denouncing strong pressure from the Guatemalan authorities, which drowned it economically. The newsroom of elPeriódico was raided last summer, when its director, José Rubén Zamora, was also arrested on charges of money laundering. Since then, a persecution has been unleashed against the media and its journalists. The newspaper published its latest front page today on the Internet with a message that is a declaration of intent: "We say no to power."
Telling the truth and publishing the facts rigorously is not easy. In Guatemala it is something that requires courage. Farewell! pic.twitter.com/0jv7dCydGZ
— elPeriódico (@el_Periodico) May 15, 2023
"Thirty years of tireless struggle against corruption, impunity and drug trafficking, against abuses of power, State terrorism, marginalization and misery, in favor of freedom, tolerance and indispensable accountability, political pluralism, quality in public spending, public investment in strategic infrastructure, the also indispensable fiscal balance, a struggle that has certainly taken place in the midst of marginality and loneliness, in a context of polarization and political regression towards a tyrannical, anachronistic and multiparty fascism, have led us, fatigued and decapitalized, some to prison and others to exile, by a dead end: the inevitable closure of elPeriódico. has written from prison Zamora in an editorial published by the newspaper.
The journalist recalled that the newspaper leaves a legacy of more than "200 rigorous and very well documented journalistic investigations" published during the administration of President Alejandro Giammattei, which turned elPeriódico into an uncomfortable voice for the Government. Among these investigations is the irregular purchase of vaccines, at very high prices for the country and that benefited people close to the Executive. In addition, the newspaper revealed a plot in which the state granted a mining concession to a Russian company with an onerous contract and through bribes to public officials. Those investigations unleashed strong pressure against the newspaper's editorial staff and its advertisers. The outlet, which once employed 400 people, was besieged and forced to make difficult cuts in people and expenses, despite its prestige and international awards for its journalistic work.
The closure of elPeriódico has generated an avalanche of reactions both in Guatemala and outside the Central American country. The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has classified it as a setback for democracy and its president, Michael Greenspon, has stated that "it isthe essential task of the independent press to supervise the public authorities. Therefore, we deeply regret that Guatemala loses a media that has exercised its essential role for many years, due to the legal, judicial and economic pressure to which it was exposed." Spain, through its embassy in Guatemala, regretted "the sad news of the definitive closure" of the newspaper and highlighted "the extraordinary contribution made to journalism in Guatemala."
The farewell cover of elPeriódico.elPeriódico (RR SS)
Guatemalan journalists' unions have also condemned the closure of the newspaper and the persecution of its editor and organized protests. In an editorial published on Monday, the newspaper Prensa Libre has highlighted the investigative work of its competitor and denounced the persecution against its newsroom. "Investigations by elPeriódico brought to light rigged contracts, purchases with dedication, embezzlement, influence peddling, improper appointments, threads of relatives and inconsistencies between speeches of rulers and their actions. He wrote the story and will continue to do so through the immense hotbed of journalists who emerged in his newsroom," the outlet said.
Zamora maintains from prison his accusation of persecution against him by President Giammattei. In the farewell text published today in elPeriódico, he has insisted on criticizing power. "Guatemalans in legitimate defense of the imposition of the monologue, confinement or mausoleum characteristic of the predominant tyrannical and anachronistic fascism, sooner rather than later will come out of their lethargy and exercise their right and duty to resist oppression, which authorizes a people to civil disobedience in order to overthrow the narco klepto dictatorship and replace it with a democratic and legitimate government," has said. For the journalist, there has been a strong democratic setback in his country under Giammattei's mandate and the use of the State and justice to silence critical voices or judges and prosecutors investigating corruption. "The state annihilated us," Zamora wrote.
As a farewell to its readers, elPeriódico has published on its social networks a video that collects the best covers published from 1996 until last year, when it had to close its printed edition. "Telling the truth and publishing the facts rigorously is not easy. In Guatemala it is something that requires courage. See you forever!", the newspaper has said goodbye, which has also presented its readers with a series of comments from its workers, who regret the closure of a reference media. But the strongest message has come from its director, journalist Zamora, who from prison does not give up on what he considers a struggle for freedom in his country. "We are not born free: freedom is a conquest and more than a conquest an invention and is exercised laconically: I do not want the established power. Despite the fatigue, the severe adverse conditions, the humiliation and the derision, I will not cease in my struggle for freedom and democracy in Guatemala," said the journalist, the most uncomfortable voice for the Guatemalan government.
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