(IFJ/IFEX) – On 26 June 2001, the Guatemalan Journalists’ Association (Asociacion de Periodistas de Guatemala, APG), the main media workers’ organisation in Guatemala, expressed its indignation over constant death threats against its members and requested international support from other press entities. APG President Salvador Bonini expressed his concern over the intimidation and death threats Guatemalan […]
(IFJ/IFEX) – On 26 June 2001, the Guatemalan Journalists’ Association (Asociacion de Periodistas de Guatemala, APG), the main media workers’ organisation in Guatemala, expressed its indignation over constant death threats against its members and requested international support from other press entities.
APG President Salvador Bonini expressed his concern over the intimidation and death threats Guatemalan journalists have been subjected to by “reactionary and repressive forces shielded by anonymity.”
In an article published in the daily “Prensa Libre”, one of the most influential Guatemalan morning newspapers, Bonini stated that a recent example of this aggression were the threats received by journalist Julio César del Valle, from the radio programme You have the floor (Usted tiene la palabra), broadcast on the Guatemala City-based station Radio Unica.
Journalist Marvin Herwing, director of the Regional Informativo news programme, broadcast on Radio Novedades, which airs out of the city of Zacapa, was also threatened in the last few days.
Bonini publicly called on President Alfonso Portillo to order an investigation into the threats in order to find those responsible for them. The association’s leader also asked the recently formed Prosecutor’s Office for the Protection of Journalists (Fiscalía de Proteccion al Periodista) to investigate these cases.
Bonini’s statements come at a time when the written press in Guatemala maintains strained relations with Portillo’s government.
The Central American country is currently plagued by a wave of insecurity and violence that has affected the entire population.
