Central America
Guatemalan court decides Wednesday whether to convict journalist José Rubén Zamora
June 14 |
A Guatemalan court will decide this Wednesday whether to sentence journalist José Rubén Zamora, nationally and internationally recognized for his investigations on corruption and a strong critic of the government of President Alejandro Giammattei, accused of money laundering, extortion and influence peddling.
The sentence comes after several organizations denounced an escalation of authoritarianism in the country that includes the persecution of journalists and judicial officials and the exclusion of candidates who are not part of the traditional political forces.
The 66 year-old journalist has said he is innocent of the prosecution’s accusations and was tried without the court allowing evidence to be presented in his favor. Cinthia Monterroso is the prosecutor accusing him.
Zamora was director of El Periódico, a newspaper that closed its doors on May 15 under political and financial pressures, in which he exposed the accusations against Monterroso for abuse of power for allegedly using his position to investigate the unfaithful husband of a friend, among other allegations.
Monterroso asked the court that Zamora be sentenced to 40 years in prison for allegedly laundering bribe money and influence peddling and asked for aggravated sentences for “contempt for authority” for the journalist’s publications about the Attorney General, Consuelo Porras, and the head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity, Rafael Curruchiche, both sanctioned by the US government for hindering the anti-corruption fight and undermining democracy in the country.
According to the prosecutor, Zamora asked his friend Ronald García Navarijo, a former banker accused of corruption, to deposit more than $30,000 in cash in a bank. Instead of doing so, he denounced Zamora.
Zamora’s defense claims that the money was the proceeds of a donation and that the journalist did not deposit it in an account of his own to avoid it becoming known who the donor was due to government pressure on El Periódico.
Meanwhile, Zamora’s family has said that what triggered the journalist’s imprisonment was the publication of a case known as “The Russian Plot”, according to which President Giammattei allegedly received bribes from Russian businessmen in exchange for benefits in mega-project concessions.
National and international press and human rights organizations have pointed out that the case against Zamora is a criminalization of journalism in Guatemala and have requested his release.
Although the prosecutor’s office has said that there is no persecution against the press, it asked Judge Jimi Bremer to authorize investigations against nine journalists from El Periódico for their publications about judges and prosecutors who had allegedly failed in the process against Zamora.
The prosecutor’s office has also charged Zamora in two other cases, one of them for falsification of documents for allegedly having incorrectly signed immigration tickets when leaving or entering the country.
Judge Bremer himself, at the request of the prosecutor’s office headed by Monterroso, is the one who has ordered the initiation of this investigation.
Zamora has received awards such as the Maria Moors Cabot Award from Columbia University, the International Press Freedom Award and the World Press Freedom Hero Award from the International Press Institute.
Central America
Venezuelan opposition leader to meet Costa Rican president Rodrigo Chaves on thursday
Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia will meet with Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves this Thursday, the Presidential Office of Costa Rica announced today.
“We will give a warm welcome to the person who won the July elections in Venezuela, and we continue to denounce electoral fraud,” President Chaves stated during his weekly press conference.
Meanwhile, Costa Rican Foreign Minister Arnoldo André explained that González Urrutia is visiting Costa Rica to “inform the president and provide details about the situation in Venezuela, the victory he achieved with over 7 million votes on July 28, and the electoral fraud committed by Nicolás Maduro’s regime, which fraudulently swore him in as president.”
González Urrutia is currently in Guatemala, having arrived from the Dominican Republic as part of a tour through several countries ahead of the controversial inauguration on January 10, during which the Chavista leader Nicolás Maduro was sworn in as president by the National Assembly, controlled by the ruling party.
Central America
President Arévalo highlights anti-corruption and drug trafficking efforts in first year report
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo de León highlighted this Tuesday the progress made in the fight against corruption and drug trafficking as cornerstones of his first year at the helm of the Guatemalan government, during a session in Congress.
“We are in a process of transformation, but the commitment must be focused on eradicating the corruption that has oppressed us for so long,” said the president during the presentation of his first government report.
Arévalo de León urged lawmakers to “work together for structural change” in the country and thanked the president of the Legislative Body, Nery Ramos, for their joint efforts in the approval of various laws and the alliances formed during 2024.
The Guatemalan president highlighted as an achievement of his administration the denunciation of dozens of corruption structures embedded in state entities, such as fraud networks involving businessmen and former officials.
Central America
Honduras arrests former military leaders over 2009 killings
Former Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Honduras, General Romeo Vásquez, was arrested on Sunday as the alleged person responsible for the 2009 killings of two individuals by military personnel, just days after leading the coup against former President Manuel Zelaya.
Along with him, the Deputy Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Venancio Cervantes, and the former commander of the Joint Operations Command were also detained, according to the Secretary of State for Security (Interior), Gustavo Sánchez, on his social media account X.
“The three arrests were made moments ago by the Honduran Police in coordination with the Public Ministry in Tegucigalpa and La Paz (west),” Sánchez said.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office had issued an arrest warrant for the three ex-military officials “on charges of homicide and aggravated assault” against Obed Murillo and Alex Zavala, who were attacked by “members of the Armed Forces,” according to the Public Ministry.
Indigenous candidate Leonidas Iza predicts a new social explosion if there is no change in Ecuador
Deaths in a hotel fire in a ski resort in Turkey rise to 69
Hamas calls for counterattack on Israeli soldiers during their incursion in the West Bank
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
International5 days agoNoboa once again entrusts the Vice President of Ecuador to the vice president he appointed by decree
-
International5 days agoMusk’s Starship was lost after a smooth takeoff
-
International5 days agoMark Carney announces his candidacy to replace Trudeau as Prime Minister of Canada
-
International5 days agoHRW assures that Sheinbaum “inherited a crisis” from López Obrador due to “extreme violence” in Mexico
-
International4 days agoTrump appoints Stallone, Voight, and Gibson as special ambassadors to Hollywood
-
International5 days agoThe Prosecutor’s Office asks Boluarte to hand over the documents that justify the surgery he kept hidden
-
International4 days agoLatin American and Caribbean diplomats voice concern over U.S. mass deportation plan
-
International5 days agoEdmundo González Urrutia’s team says that the anti-chavista will attend Trump’s investiture
-
International5 days agoChina, Israel and Burma, the countries in the world with the most journalists imprisoned in 2024
-
International2 days agoTrump to sign over 200 executive orders, declaring National Emergency at U.S.-Mexico Border
-
International12 hours agoDeaths in a hotel fire in a ski resort in Turkey rise to 69
-
International12 hours agoHamas calls for counterattack on Israeli soldiers during their incursion in the West Bank
-
International12 hours agoThe Israeli Chief of Staff submits his resignation for October 7
-
International12 hours agoSheinbaum says that “it will remain the Gulf of Mexico for the whole world” despite Trump
-
International12 hours agoIndigenous candidate Leonidas Iza predicts a new social explosion if there is no change in Ecuador
-
International5 days agoAntony Blinken assures that the Panamanian sovereignty of the Panama Canal “will not change”
-
International5 days agoAt least five peace signatories and social leaders are killed in fighting in Colombia
-
International2 days agoPope Francis hopes Trump will build a more just society free of hatred
-
Sin categoría2 days agoParaguayan president Santiago Peña meets Venezuela’s opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia in Washington
-
International12 hours agoTrump begins his first day in power with a mass in Washington Cathedral
-
International12 hours agoRubio promises to work for “a safer world” after swearing in as US Secretary of State
-
International5 days agoForeign Affairs confirms the kidnapping of a Spaniard in North Africa by a jihadist group
-
International2 days agoBrazil’s Lula wishes Trump a successful term focused on prosperity and peace
-
International2 days agoTrump to sign executive order recognizing only two sexes
-
International2 days agoIran hopes U.S. will adopt realistic approaches under Trump administration
-
International12 hours agoMexico will return migrants affected by Trump’s restrictions to its countries
-
International12 hours agoTerrorism, prisoners and the Vatican: autopsy of the agreement between the US and Cuba that was born dead
-
International12 hours agoAt least 409 minors were recruited in Colombia in 2024, according to the Ombudsman’s Office
-
International12 hours agoWhat are the first measures approved by Trump after taking office as US president?
-
International12 hours agoIsrael shifts the spotlight to the West Bank with a large-scale raid and kills 9 Palestinians