2023-05-15 23:08:10
The Association of Journalists of Guatemala (APG) ruled this May 15 on the closure of elPeriódico de Guatemala and said that actions like this are equivalent to the death of journalism. On this date, the last daily edition of that communication medium circulated due to the persecution
In a press release, the APG stated: “before the announcement of the closure of elPeriódico, it publicly manifests its solidarity with its president and editorial staff and denounces nationally and internationally that the reasons for this unfortunate news are nothing more than constant harassment, criminalization and economic drowning of which this newspaper has been subjected for its fight against corruption and freedom of expression in the country”.
He adds that the decision to close this media outlet for these reasons “represents a setback to press freedom and fundamentally to democracy where the media play an important role in the public debate on national problems and to a greater extent social audit to state institutions”
It refers to the declaration of Chapultepec, at the Hemispheric Conference on Freedom of Expression held in Mexico on March 11, 1994, where it was established that without freedom there can be no true order, stability, and justice, and without freedom of expression there can be no freedom.
He cites the aforementioned statement and mentions that: “A free press is a fundamental condition for societies to resolve their conflicts, promote well-being and protect their freedom. There should not be any law or act of power that restricts freedom of expression or of the press, whatever the means of communication.
The APG demands and demands that the measures and policies aimed at “censoring, persecuting and criminalizing the media and journalists who, under the protection of the Thought Broadcasting Law, which has constitutional rank, carry out their work in defense of the right to seek , investigate and inform the population”.
It also requests due process and freedom for Jose Rubén Zamora Marroquín, president of elPeriódico, who is imprisoned for a case the APG describes as “malicious and clearly political that questions the judicial system in Guatemala. At this crucial moment and an attack on free expression”.
It calls on the different press organizations and Guatemalan society to close ranks and defend this right that belongs to all of society.
Closure of elPeriódico
On May 12, elPeriódico announced the final closure of its daily edition as of May 15.
The media outlet attributed the decision to the persecution against it, its journalists and columnists, as well as its advertisers.
He explained that on July 29, 2022, its president, Jose Rubén Zamora, was captured, since the Public Prosecutor’s Office points it out for alleged money laundering, but that it was a case that was articulated in 72 hours after several publications of corruption in the Government.
Ten months before the capture, the outlet had already denounced that a case was being fabricated against Zamora.
Due to the capture of Zamora, on November 22, 2022, elPeriódico stopped publishing its print edition, but they kept the digital edition and a daily publication in PDF.
This May 15, was the last day of both publications.
The latest edition of elPeriódico publishes opinion articles on the closure of the outlet, an article by Zamora and employees of that outlet, but also relevant news that the outlet has published in recent years on government corruption.
One is entitled “Shady contracts of the government of Alejandro Giammattei”, which details that this government has had the highest budgets in the country’s history. However, a portion of public resources has been committed to questioned businesses.
Such as the projects for the Asfaltos y Petróleos company, whose owners were accused by the US of engaging in “significant corruption” for delivering bribes in exchange for state contracts. The company would have obtained Q919.21 million in contracts.
Also the granting of million-dollar contracts to commercial entities linked to political parties or representatives.
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