In Guatemala, a Blow to Democracy
GUATEMALA CITY — When the newspaper elPeriodico was founded in Guatemala in 1996, the country was emerging from a brutal civil war, and there was a feeling that a small space for free thought might be opening.
That opening closed when elPeriodico, which made a name for itself and became a frequent target for trying to hold Guatemala’s governments to account, published its final digital edition on May 15.
The newspaper’s demise followed the jailing of its publisher after he was accused by the government of financial crimes and its assets were frozen, which dealt a financial blow and led to the suspension of the print edition in December.
The closing of elPeriodico is the latest setback for Guatemala’s increasingly brittle democracy, civil liberties groups say, as President Alejandro Giammattei steers the country toward greater repression, targeting critics, including the news media, opposition politicians and the judiciary.
When elPeriodico got off the ground, “we wanted to be irreverent, not necessarily confrontational,” said Luis Aceituno, who was one of three dozen remaining staff members (at its high point in 2012, elPeriodico’s newsroom had 400 employees). But over the years, the newspaper has drawn the ire of the country’s ruling elite.
Since Mr. Giammattei took office in 2020, elPeriodico had published scores of investigative articles about corruption within his administration, including the prosecutor’s office and the country’s high court.
“Despite the fatigue, the severe adverse conditions, the humiliation and the derision, I will not cease in my fight for freedom and democracy in Guatemala,” José Rubén Zamora, the newspaper’s publisher, wrote in a final editorial from jail. He has been detained since last July after he was charged with money laundering, blackmail and influence peddling. He has denied any wrongdoing and has called the charges a “persecution.”
The government has said the case has nothing to do with Mr. Zamora’s work as a journalist, just his business dealings. “If you’re a journalist, do you have the right to commit criminal acts because you are a journalist?” Mr. Giammattei asked during a radio interview in January.
Nine other journalists at the newspaper are also under investigation, some because they wrote about Mr. Zamora’s case, which prosecutors have said constitutes obstruction of justice. Some journalists at elPeriodico have fled Guatemala, fearing legal repercussions because of their work.
“The feeling came that everything was falling, everything was leading us to disappear,” Mr. Aceituno said.
ElPeriodico’s investigations have regularly made it a target of the government. Over the past 10 years it has been the subject of many tax audits. Mr. Zamora has been sued scores of times by the government, including a dozen ongoing claims filed by a former president and vice president.
Now Guatemala faces presidential elections in June amid concerns that opposition candidates will not have a fair chance to run, according to international organizations. And there will be at least one fewer news outlet to cover it.
On its last day, elPeriodico’s website led with an investigation about Guatemala’s electoral authority buying equipment from a company owned by a congressman.
“What disappears is the idea that freedom of expression is the basis of democracy,” Mr. Aceituno said. “We’d like to be a metaphor for what is happening in Guatemala.”