The newspaper the newspaper de Guatemala has published a statement this Friday 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 during that time “persecution, political and economic pressures”, the outlet has decided to close its operations. Next Monday, May 15, the latest edition of this publication will be published, which for years has investigated the corruption that prevails in this Central American country.
The Government of Alejandro Giammattei, through the prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, launched an attack against the newspaper on July 29, 2022, when the security forces arrested José Rubén Zamora and raided the newsroom of the newspaper.lNewspaper. This publication was born in 1996 and during its almost 30 years of life, it publicized 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.
“the newspaper received a blunt blow. After ten months of denouncing that the current regime was fabricating cases against him, José 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 finance staff and given the circumstances, the medium had two months left to live. But it was not like that. 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 elNewspaper He is facing a trial that his relatives and journalists have described as “political.” José Rubén Zamora is accused by the Prosecutor’s Office of money laundering and blackmail, charges that he affirms are a reprisal for his journalistic publications. On May 3, when the process criticized for multiple “irregularities” began, the defendant himself announced that they were going to “sentence” him. “I am a political prisoner and I have been treated as such,” Zamora declared.
The newspaper He highlights in his statement “that the attacks did not stop.” “So far, four lawyers have been arrested, two are still in pretrial detention, six journalists and three columnists are being investigated by the FECI [la Fiscalía Especial contra la Impunidad] of Rafael Curruchiche and José Rubén Zamora has accumulated four criminal cases against him”.
José Zamora, son of the accused journalist, told EL PAÍS that “it is impossible to separate” what happened to himlNewspaper 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 outlet operating. Advertisers are very scared to see that the State’s persecution not only continues, but intensifies… So they preferred not to put their ads in the newspaper or grant donations because the State also persecutes them”.
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José Zamora explains that the staff of elNewspaper It was made up 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 paying their salaries on time… Although the entire team was and is highly 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 defendant’s son, also a journalist.
“It’s terrible for democracy”
The closing of elNewspaper It is a major blow for press freedom in Guatemala, but also for a Central America riddled with authoritarianisms that have declared war on journalism and reporters. “All of this is terrible for the country, for all Guatemalans. It is terrible for democracy because it empowers these repressive and authoritarian characters. It is one more step towards establishing a totally corrupt system. It is one more step to turn Guatemala into Nicaragua, Venezuela or Cuba”, says José Zamora.
Justice controlled by the Giammattei 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, with a view to 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 attorney.
José Luis Font, a journalist in exile, tells EL PAÍS that the closure of elNewspaper “it was always the goal” of the Giammattei Administration. “Also from the financiers of the Foundation against Terrorism and the Public Ministry, which served as an instrument of a Government that keeps the Courts co-opted”, he maintains. “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 has been dedicated to investigating corruption in a constant and reliable manner. an effective way in Guatemala”.
Font, who worked on elNewspaper, He 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 (CICIG), dismantled in 2018 by former President Jimmy Morales.
“The reasons whylNewspaper has always faced economic difficulties and the animosity in different governments are in sight: he 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”, affirms Font.
Meanwhile, in Guatemala, the journalists of this newspaper express in the communiqué, which seems more like the epitaph of this writing, 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 more and more difficult,” they explain.
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