The US celebrates the release of a journalist who denounced corruption by the former president of Guatemala

The United States government celebrated this Tuesday the release of Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora, who was imprisoned for more than 800 days without a sentence and who today is under house arrest while two legal cases against him are being heard.

The Undersecretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the United States, Brian A. Nichols, referred to the process against Zamora in his account on the social network press, freedom of expression, transparency and an independent judiciary.

“We join Guatemalans in celebrating the granting of house arrest to José Rubén Zamora after more than 800 days of delayed justice. The United States will continue to advocate throughout the Americas for freedom of the press, freedom of expression, transparency and an independent judiciary,” the US official wrote.

Zamora, 67, was arrested in July 2022, after publishing an editorial in his defunct media El Periódico, titled “The Fable of the Ogre and the Little Prince who wanted it all”, where he describes a network of corruption in the government of the former president Alejandro Giammattei.

Giammattei governed Guatemala from 2020-2024 and after leaving power he was sanctioned by the US government, which accused him of “significant corruption” during his term.

A chain of irregularities

The Public Ministry accused Zamora of money laundering, blackmail, influence peddling and obstruction of justice. For the first, he was convicted in 2023, but the Appeals Chamber of the Supreme Court annulled the sentence and ordered a new trial. In none of the cases has there been a final ruling.

One of the heads of the Prosecutor’s Office behind the accusations against Zamora is Rafael Curruchiche, head of the fiscal unit designated to investigate high-impact cases and who is on the United States Department of State’s list of corrupt and undemocratic actors.

At least ten lawyers have resigned from taking on Zamora’s defense, for fear of reprisals. In two cases, after having taken charge of the journalist’s defense, the lawyers were notified of investigations against them.

The president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, who assumed power in January, considered that Zamora’s imprisonment “is a clear example of the corruption and abuse of power that prevails in the Public Ministry.” Arevalo visited the journalist at his homewhere he is under house arrest.

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