(IPI/IFEX) – In a letter to President Alfonso Portillo Cabrera, IPI expressed deep concern over the safety of Silvia Gereda, editor of the investigative unit of “elPeriodico”, as well as two other reporters for the independent Guatemala City daily. According to information obtained by IPI, Gereda was leaving the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, where […]
(IPI/IFEX) – In a letter to President Alfonso Portillo Cabrera, IPI expressed deep concern over the safety of Silvia Gereda, editor of the investigative unit of “elPeriodico”, as well as two other reporters for the independent Guatemala City daily.
According to information obtained by IPI, Gereda was leaving the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, where she was attending classes, when she was approached by a man who grabbed her by the neck and threatened to kill her and two colleagues if “elPeriodico” continued to publish stories about corruption at the state bank, Credito Hipotecario Nacional. Hours before this incident, Gereda had been stopped by a man who identified himself as an employee of the state bank and told her that she was being followed and her every movement monitored. He warned her that both she and her colleagues, Luis Escobar and Enrique Castañeda, were in grave danger.
The threat against Gereda and her colleagues is not the first case of harassment or intimidation directed at journalists working for “elPeriodico”, which is known for its critical coverage of official corruption. In February, more than 50 armed demonstrators tried to force their way into the daily’s offices. IPI was informed that the demonstrators were identified as followers of both the ruling Guatemalan Republic Front party (Frente Republicano Gautemalteco) and the Minister of Communications, Luis Rabbé. The minister’s position has been repeatedly questioned by “elPeriodico”, which alleges that Rabbé distributed millions of dollars in public works contracts to non-existent construction companies. In an apparent campaign to intimidate “elPeriodico”, the television news programmes “Notisiete” and “Telediario”, as well as the radio news programme “Sonora”, have sought to discredit the daily, and Rabbé even issued a veiled threat against the newspaper’s founder and president, José Rubén Zamora (see IFEX alerts of 23 and 22 February 2001).
In May 2000, several reporters from “elPeriodico” were threatened or intimidated while working on a story about a secret intelligence agency run by the Presidential High Command (Estado Mayor Presidencial) under the direction of a retired military officer, Jacobo Salán Sánchez. One of the reporters was followed by a car without licence plates, while others received threatening telephone calls (see IFEX alerts of 30 and 23 May 2000).
The death threat is one of the most widely used methods of silencing journalists in Latin America. Although such threats are often the precursor to murder, the authorities often do not take them seriously or fail to act upon complaints from journalists.
IPI states that given Guatemala’s unfortunate history of violence against journalists, the failure to act upon these threats is all the more alarming.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
– urging him to authorise an immediate and thorough investigation into this latest incident
– asking him to do everything in his power to ensure that journalists working for the independent media in general, and “elPeriodico” in particular, are able to carry out their profession without fear of intimidation
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Alfonso Portillo Cabrera
President
Casa Presidencial
Guatemala City Guatemala
Fax: + 502 239 00 90
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
