The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), and other organizations that ensure freedom of the press and guarantees for journalists in Latin America, denounce an increase in threats and insecurity for communicators
Added to this is the increasingly excessive use of the judicial system to prosecute journalists, and in the worst cases, direct intimidation and actions by organized crime structures to avoid investigations into their operations.
The case of journalist José Rubén Zamora, in Guatemala, is a clear example of harassment and excessive judicialization, according to the IAPA analysis. “Under threat: journalists in Latin America demand security”.
His imprisonment is worrying because at the end of September, the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of his country postponed until September 24, 2025 the decision on the recognition of an appeal that annulled his six-year prison sentence for alleged money laundering. money and granted him conditional release.
Zamora was arrested in July 2022, after his media outlet, El Periódico, uncovers alleged cases of corruption during the administration of former Guatemalan president Alejandro Giammattei. His sentence was imposed by the Public Ministry in a “flawed” trial, according to the international community.
United States, the European Union, and human rights organizations They have demanded their freedomMeanwhile, Zamora will remain imprisoned in the Mariscal Zavala military prison until the Supreme Court justices review the appeal.
The journalist’s family, his lawyers and the organizations that protect him consider “malicious” the delays of the judicial body that have “hindered” the resolution of the notorious case.
From north to south
In Mexico, the country on the continent considered among the most dangerous to practice journalism, it has recorded three murders of journalists so far in 2024, according to official data.
In this context, the death threats in recent days against journalist Silvia Peraza Azueta, – whose house was already shot at, put organizations on alert.
The communicator, based in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, and founder of the media Codigo Rojo, was the target of intimidation after the publication of a journalistic investigation related to Social Security care.
“They just shot up my house,” the Code Rojo Facebook account posted in the early hours of September 24. Mexican authorities have captured two suspects in the attack.
Peraza immediately turned to the State Prosecutor’s Office to report the death threats that came from a foreign number, in which he was required to delete a publication related to alleged negligence by the staff of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) due to the death. of a resident of the town of Cozumel, who died because he did not receive medical attention.
“Friend, download that IMSS publication for me, you know what company I’m talking about and you know it because of the money you and your friend received, so download that now, if not, you know […] We are from the CDS company,” said a person on the other end of the line, in one of the messages sent to the journalist. CDS could be the acronym of the dangerous Sinaloa Cartel.
A similar story faces the Colombian journalist William Stiven Rojas, the target of death threats for more than a year, to which have been added intimidations from Los Satan and Los Castros, two criminal groups that operate in Bogotá and its surroundings.
Regarding this case, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has demanded that the Colombian government guarantee the safety of the journalist, under a precautionary measure that also includes his family.
At the beginning of this year, a direct message to his WhatsApp number from Los Satan warned him: “Happiness and tranquility have NO price, be careful with your family and your son, HP journalist, everyone must pay.” The harassment and threats against the communicator also continued on other social networks.
In Peru, the IAPA has denounced that Paola Ugaz became the first Peruvian communicator whose right to “secrecy of her communications” was violated.
A court asked the cell phone operator for all the call records and geolocation information of his mobile phone from 2013 to 2020.
During that period, the communicator carried out investigations on the religious group Sodalitium of Christian Liferelated to a scandal that reached the Vatican itself and Pope Francis, who ordered the expulsion for sexual abuse of about 10 members of the organization, including its founder.
Media organizations also see similar patterns in threats to the safety of journalists, especially when this scenario could increase self-censorship to avoid becoming targets of attacks.
The IAPA and other bodies closely follow the situation of journalists in other countries in the region such as Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador and Argentina, among others.
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