Central America

Guatemalan court decides Wednesday whether to convict journalist José Rubén Zamora

Photo: Prensa Libre

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.

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

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.

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

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.

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

Related Topics:Guatemala José Rubén Zamora

Up Next

President of Iran visits the National Assembly of Nicaragua

Don't Miss

Guatemala opens centers to apply for legal migration to the U.S.

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_300x250

Central America

Teens visit ETESAL substation to learn about responsible energy use

Within the framework of World Energy Day, teenagers from the institutional care center Ciudad Niñez y Adolescencia (CNA), run by the Consejo Nacional de la Primera Infancia, Niñez y Adolescencia (Conapina), took part in an educational visit to a substation operated by Empresa Transmisora de El Salvador (ETESAL) in Santa Ana.

The aim of the activity was to give participants first-hand knowledge of how the country’s electricity transmission system works and to highlight the importance of responsible energy use.

During the tour, the group learned about the process that delivers electricity to homes, businesses, and industries. They were also introduced to specialized technical equipment and the safety measures required to ensure an efficient and reliable service.

Before the guided visit, the teenagers attended two informative talks and an environmental awareness session focused on the relevance of responsible energy consumption and its impact on the environment.

According to Nelson Menjívar, head of Conapina’s programs unit, the initiative serves a dual purpose. “It has two objectives: a recreational component and an educational one, so that adolescents can learn about the work carried out by ETESAL and how some of the resources they use at home are generated. This is in keeping with the guarantees established under the Crecer Juntos law; we ensure those rights for children,” he said.

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

Menjívar stressed that these activities help young people better understand how essential services function in their daily lives while promoting efficient consumption habits and a culture of environmental respect and care.

The event is part of the principle of shared responsibility set out in the Crecer Juntos law, promoted by the administration of Nayib Bukele, which states that families, society, private companies, and the State must work together to safeguard the comprehensive well-being of children and adolescents.

Central America

Guatemala’s president denounces MP raids during Constitutional Court election

The president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, on Thursday accused the Ministerio Público (MP) of interfering in the process to select magistrates for the country’s highest court, the Corte de Constitucionalidad (CC).

Arévalo has been locked in an ongoing dispute with Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union and labeled by critics as “corrupt” and “anti-democratic” after efforts to block the president from taking office two years ago.

Earlier on Thursday, the MP said it was investigating alleged irregularities in the voting process and carried out raids at polling sites set up at Club La Aurora and Parque Erick Barrondo, in Guatemala City, where the Colegio de Abogados y Notarios de Guatemala (CANG) was electing its principal and alternate representatives to the CC.

In posts on X, the president described the operation as a “spurious” action aimed at “interfering” in the election and “intimidating” voters in order to “alter” the outcome.

Voting was temporarily disrupted by the searches, the frisking of the CANG president, and a power outage caused by the explosion of a nearby transformer. Once the process resumed and concluded, the association elected Astrid Jeannette Lemus Rodríguez as one of the five members of the Constitutional Court, with Luis Fernando Bermejo Quiñónez chosen as her alternate.

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

“They failed in their attempt to hijack the elections (…). Honest lawyers won,” Arévalo wrote in a subsequent message.

Central America

Guatemala to Phase Out Longstanding Medical Cooperation Agreement with Cuba

Guatemala’s government announced on Tuesday that it will end this year a cooperation agreement with Cuba that has brought doctors from the Caribbean nation to work in the Central American country.

Guatemala’s Health Ministry told EFE that the program, which has been in place for nearly three decades, will be phased out progressively throughout 2026.

According to the same source, there are currently 412 Cubans in Guatemala under the agreement, including 333 physicians.

Cuban medical brigades assigned to Guatemala have traditionally been deployed to various regions of the country to provide primary health care to local communities.

“The decision follows a technical assessment aimed at strengthening the sustainability of the national workforce and consolidating the public health system’s own capacities,” the Guatemalan ministry said.

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

Earlier this week, lawmaker Sonia Gutiérrez, from the left-wing Winaq party, warned that the move “could be an inhumane act that threatens the health and lives of the country’s most vulnerable populations,” given the historic importance of Cuban doctors in providing medical care.

For that reason, the legislator summoned Health Ministry authorities to Congress, as permitted by law, to provide further details about the decision.

Former human rights ombudsman Jordán Rodas Andrade also weighed in on social media, recalling that “for 27 years Cuban doctors have been the backbone of health care in Guatemala’s most neglected areas,” and stressing that “ending this agreement is an act of ingratitude that leaves the most vulnerable unprotected.”

President Bernardo Arévalo’s government told EFE that, in order to guarantee continued care, it will implement a gradual replacement plan that includes hiring national personnel.