Guatemala is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists and media workers in Latin America. At least 342 journalists were murdered and 126 were disappeared or illegally arrested during the Guatemalan Civil War (1960–1996). On average, that would calculate to one attack each month for 36 years. When fighting broke out between the leftist guerrilla movements and the right-wing government, journalism became a dangerous profession in the country. Hundreds of media workers were beaten, imprisoned, kidnapped, or even killed for writing about corruption, repression, organized crime, and human right violations committed by the regime. As the intensity of the civil war increased in the 1970s, Guatemalan journalism polarized and journalists became involved in politics. If a citizen wanted to report a crime, they went to the press, not to law enforcement; people who wanted to voice their political opposition sent their work for publication to newspapers, not to the Guatemalan government. By 1985, when Guatemala readopted its constitutional rule, press freedom began to improve. When a peace treaty was signed in 1996, the atmosphere improved for journalists in Guatemala and the killings of media workers dropped significantly. However, attacks against the press and targeted killings continued under the form of organized crime.

The end of the civil war made the Guatemalan press free in several aspects; newspapers began to publish articles about government corruption, a topic that was frequently avoided during the war-time era, in increasing numbers. Despite these improvements, journalists in Guatemala learned to adopt a culture of self-censorship that dates back to the civil war. Negative attitudes from the government towards the Guatemalan press continue to exist, and the press lacks the economic independence to break away from the government and its advertisements and become fully autonomous. Most of the media outlets in the country are centered in Guatemala City, the capital. Journalists who work in the capital have better working conditions and are better protected from attacks than those living in the provinces, where they are easily pressured by local officials for their direct reporting. Since the mid-2000s, drug-related violence and the presence of Mexican organized crime, in particular of Los Zetas, has increased the number of homicides in Guatemala and attacks against the press.

During the Guatemalan Civil War

Date Name Location Media outlet Status Refs1948Alejandro CórdovaGuatemalaEl ImparcialKilled20 August 1960Manuel Ávila Ayala(pen name): Meme AyalaGuatemalaDiario de CentroaméricaKilled12 July 1967José Arnoldo Guilló MartínezEscuintla, Escuintla DepartmentRadio SurRadio PalmerasDisappeared4 September 1967José Torón BarriosGuatemalaVoz de la LiberaciónKilled1968Gonzalo AcevedoGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentLa HoraKilled1970sLuis Díaz PérezGuatemalaN/AKilled1970sEnrique SalazarGuatemalaN/AKilled29 April 1970Julio César de la RocaGuatemalaLa NaciónKilled20 November 1970Enrique Salazar SolórzanoGuatemalaEl DebateGuatemala FlashDisappeared20 November 1970Luis Díaz PérezGuatemalaGuatemala FlashDisappeared10 December 1970Humberto González JuárezGuatemalaN/AKilled15 May 1974Werner Roswald Trejo ÁlvarezGuatemalaN/ADisappeared19 July 1975Julio Roberto PensamientoSan Agustín Acasaguastlán, El ProgresoLa NaciónKilled22 July 1975José María López ValdizónGuatemalaAleroPresenciaRevista de GuatemalaDisappeared28 July 1975Carlos Humberto OliverosGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentNuevo Diario del AireDisappeared15 December 1976Manuel de Jesús MendizábalGuatemalaN/ADisappeared19 May 1979Carlos Gilberto Aquino CruzJalapa, JalapaOrientalKilled22 September 1978Héctor Augusto VásquezHuehuetenango, HuehuetenangoRadio PoderosaDisappeared6 November 1978Antonio Estuardo Ciani GarcíaGuatemalaAsociación de Periodistas EscolaresDisappeared11 December 1978José Héctor Sosa VilledaGuatemalaGuate CosasKilled19 November 1979José León CastañedaGuatemalaSIMCOSKilled1980Baltasar Toy MedranoGuatemalaRadio QuichéKilled1980Víctor Galeano RodríguezGuatemalaN/AKilledMarch 1980Hugo Rolando MelgarGuatemala7 DíasKilled17 April 1980Oscar Enrique Ovalle BarrillasGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentN/ADisappeared21 June 1980Manuel René PolancoGuatemalaPrensa LibreDisappeared24 June 1980Belte Elvidio VillatoroGuatemalaNuevo DiarioKilled5 July 1980Marco Antonio Cacao MuñozGuatemalaRadio SensaciónKilled5 July 1980Eliot HernándezRetalhuleu, RetalhuleuLa NaciónKilled16 July 1980Samuel González RomeroGuatemalaPrensa en AcciónKilled17 July 1980Manuel de Jesús Marroquín CastañedaGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentN/AKilled26 July 1980Julio César Coronado EspinozaEscuintla, Escuintla DepartmentEl EstudianteKilled1 August 1980José Alfredo GonzálezEscuintla, Escuintla DepartmentClarínRadio TropicanaKilled1 August 1980Julio Cojón TecúnEscuintla, Escuintla DepartmentRadio TropicanaKilled1 August 1980Alberto SantistebanEscuintla, Escuintla DepartmentRadio TropicanaKilled1 August 1980Julio Solórzano BeltetónEscuintla, Escuintla DepartmentRadio TropicanaKilled5 August 1980Mario Ribas MontesGuatemalaLa HoraEl ImparcialDiario de CentroaméricaKilled5 September 1980Luis Alberto Romero(pen name): Timoteo CurruchicheGuatemalaRadio SonoraKilled15 September 1980Ramiro Antonio García JiménezGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentNuevo DiarioDisappeared6 October 1980Felipe Zepeda y ZepedaGuatemalaRadio QuicheKilled14 October 1980Víctor Hugo PensamientoEl Progreso DepartmentLa NaciónTele PrensaRadio Nuevo MundoKilled16 October 1980Irma Flaquer AzurdiaGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentLa HoraDisappeared24 October 1980Gaspar Culán YatazSantiago Atitlan, SololáRadio Voz de AtitlánKilled19 December 1980Alaíde FoppaGuatemalaEl ImparcialEl NacionalDisappeared19 December 1980José Guilló MartínezGuatemalaN/ADisappeared19 December 1980Sergio SánchezRetalhuleu, RetalhuleuTeleprensaKilled19 December 1980Carlos SiliézarEscuintla, EscuintlaN/AKilled1981Francisco ParGuatemalaN/AKilled1981Paredes QuiñónezGuatemalaN/AKilled30 January 1981Oscar Rolando FigueroaGuatemalaN/AKilled4–15 February 1981Simón Estansilao CabreraGuatemalaRadio MusicalKilled6 February 1981Jorge Marroquín MejíaGuatemalaMundo NuevoEl IndependienteKilled21 February 1981Simón Leonidas Cabrera RiveraGuatemalaRadio JutiapaKilled24 February 1981Óscar Arturo Palencia PinedaGuatemalaSiete Días en la USACKilled10 March 1981Oscar Leonel Mujía CórdobaHuehuetenango, Huehuetenango DepartmentNuevo MundoDisappeared31 March 1981Luis Alfredo LópezGuatemalaN/AKilled21 April 1981Isidro Mirando LópezGuatemalaRadio TropicalKilled21 May 1981Fulvio Alirio Mejía MiliánCuilapa, Santa RosaLa NaciónEl IndependienteKilled21 May 1981Edgar Rolando Castillo RiveraQuetzaltenango, QuetzaltenangoRadioperiódico AméricaKilled16 June 1981Rodrigo Ramírez MoralesGuatemalaConsejo Nacional de la PublicidadDisappeared23 July 1981Sonia Calderón de MartellGuatemalaEl GráficoDisappeared9 August 1981Mario Solórzano FoppaGuatemalaInfopressNuevo DiarioKilled11 August 1981Abner Daniel Recinos AlfaroGuatemalaSeisDisappeared16 September 1981Didier Juvenal Martell GonzálezChiquimulilla, Santa RosaEl GráficoKilled1982Agustín Tzaloj TuistSololá, Sololá DepartmentRadio QuicotéKilled21 January 1982Carmen Jax SayGuatemalaRadio UtatlánKilled2 February 1982Roberto Girón LemusGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentLa NaciónKilled1989Danilo BarillasGuatemala¿Por Qué?Killed29 March 1989Griffith DavisQuiché, GuatemalaFreelance journalistKilled29 March 1989Nicholas Chapman BlakeQuiché, GuatemalaFreelance journalistKilled15 October 1990Humberto González GamarraGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentN/AKilled15 October 1990Miguel Ángel CortínGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentN/AKilled3 July 1993Jorge Carpio NicolleChichicastenango, QuichéEl GráficoKilled24 December 1993Víctor Manuel de la CruzGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentRadio SonoraKilled12 September 1994Victor Hugo López EscobarGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentRadio ProgresoKilled29 January 1995Alberto Antoniotti MongeGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentEl GráficoKilled11 November 1995Edwin Estuardo Mansilla De LeónGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentRadio ProgresoKilled11 April 1996Juan José YantucheMixco, Guatemala DepartmentTV NoticiasKilled10 December 1996Israel Hernández MarroquínGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentInfopress CentroamericanoKilled

After the Guatemalan Civil War

Date Name Location Media outlet Status Refs5 June 1997Jorge Luis Marroquín SagastumeJocotán, ChiquimulaSol ChortíKilled16 July 1997Norman Homero Hernández PérezTiquisate, EscuintlaRadio CampesinaKilled14 November 1997Luis Ronaldo de Leon GodoyGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentPrensa LibreKilled27 December 1999Larry LeeGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentBridge Financial NewsKilled28 April 2000Roberto Martínez CastañedaGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentPrensa LibreKilled25 June 2000Francisco Antonio Castillo GálvezGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentAvancesKilled5 September 2001Jorge Mynor Alegría ArmendárizPuente Barrios, IzabalRadio AmatiqueKilled24 July 2003Héctor RamírezGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentNoti-7Radio SonoraKilled11 September 2006Eduardo Heriberto Maas BolCobán, Alta VerapazRadio PuntoKilled3 May 2007Mario Rolando López SánchezGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentRadio SonoraKilled23 January 2008Hugo ArceGuatemala¿Y Qué?Killed12 April 2008Rubén Bozarreyes LunaGualán, ZacapaRadio GualánKilled10 May 2008Jorge Mérida PérezCoatepeque, QuetzaltenangoPrensa LibreKilled22 October 2008Abel Girón MoralesGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentEl PeriódicoKilled2009Luis Alberto Oliva OrellanaChiquimula, ZacapaN/AKilled1 April 2009Rolando Santiz de LeónGuatemala City, Guatemala DepartmentTelecentro TreceKilled5 June 2009Marco Antonio EstradaChiquimula, ZacapaTelediarioKilled27 May 2010Anibal ArchilaGuatemala CityNoti7Killed18–19 May 2011Yensi Roberto Ordoñez GaldámezNueva Concepción, EscuintlaChannel 14Killed20 March 2013Jaime Napoleón Jarquín DuarteCiudad Pedro de Alvarado, JutiapaNuestro DiarioKilled7 April 2013Luis Alberto Lemus RuanoJalpatagua, JutiapaCafé TVRadio Stereo CaféKilled7 August 2013 Luis de Jesús LimaZacapa, ZacapaLa SultanaKilled20 August 2013Carlos Alberto Orellana ChávezSuchitepéquez DepartmentCanal Óptimo 23Killed10 March 2015Danilo LópezMazatenango, SuchitepéquezPrensa LibreKilled10 March 2015Federico SalazarMazatenango, SuchitepéquezNuevo MundoKilled14 March 2015Guido Armando Giovanni Villatoro RamosChicacao, Suchitepéquez DepartmentCanal 14Killed1 February 2018Laurent Ángel Castillo CifuentesSanto Domingo Suchitepéqueznewspaper Nuestro Diario Killed Alt URL1 February 2018Luis Alfredo de León MirandaSanto Domingo SuchitepéquezRadio CoaltepecKilled30 July 2021Pedro Alfonso Guadrón HernándezConcepción Las MinasConcepción Las Minas mi TierraKilled

See also

List of journalists killed in Honduras List of journalists killed in Mexico List of journalists killed in Venezuela

Sources

References

Bibliography

External links Attacks on the Press: Guatemala (2011), by Committee to Protect Journalists Journalists killed in Guatemala since 1992, by Committee to Protect Journalists