Central America
The situation of Guatemalan journalists exiled in the last four years is “very critical”
Journalist and defender of freedom of expression Evelyn Blanck warns that the reporters who have been forced to leave Guatemala are in a “very critical” situation and that there are still no conditions for them to return to the country, despite the positive turn in the press that has been given with the Government of the new President Bernardo Arévalo de León.
Blanck is the coordinator of the Civitas Center, an organization that seeks to ensure the freedom of the press in the Central American country and that has coordinated support for more than twenty journalists who have had to go into exile, after denouncing political persecution against her in the last four years.
“Colleagues in exile are in a critical situation,” the journalist warns in an interview with EFE and assures that among the twenty colleagues who were forced to leave Guatemala in recent years, there are three mothers who are separated from their children and many others who struggle to find conditions to continue practicing journalism.
Several of them “are struggling to survive because they came out with emergency funds, with financing for three months and they never have anything guaranteed,” says this journalist with more than 30 years of experience.
According to an analysis by the social organization Red Rompe El Silencio, 44% of Guatemalan journalists exiled have had to stop exercising their profession and most are refugees in the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and seven other countries.
This crisis of “political persecution” against the press in several Central American countries revealed that there is no comprehensive system of care for journalists who are forced to leave their country, says the activist.
“The only thing we have left is to try to work with the Central American network of journalism solutions so that colleagues have conditions to stay outside because today Guatemalans, Salvadorans and Nicaraguan exiles cannot return,” Blanck concludes.
Journalists Juan Luis Font, director of the radio program Con Criterio and Michelle Mendoza, who was a correspondent for the CNN network in Guatemala, top the list of Guatemalan communicators who have had to go into exile.
In Blanck’s opinion, the Government of the new president of Guatemala exhibits “an institutional discourse that recognizes the work of the press, although its ability to maneuver is very little because the State is still co-opted.”
“Of course there is tension, but it is different from the administrations of Alejandro Giammattei (2020-2024) and Jimmy Morales (2016-2020), where there was an absolute public contempt for the press and that is over,” says the journalist.
According to the Association of Journalists of Guatemala (APG), during the administration of Giammattei there were more than 400 attacks on the press by public officials, and the vast majority of these were dismissed and not investigated by the authorities.
That is why Blanck refers to the Government of Arévalo de León as “a respite that we do not know how long it will last,” and warns that there are no conditions for journalists who left the country under persecution to return while the co-optation of the Judicial Body and the Public Ministry (Public Prosecutor’s Office) persists.
“Doing journalism in Guatemala has always been facing a country of censorship, it is facing power. This is one of the most difficult countries to do quality journalism,” says Blanck.
The Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office, headed by Consuelo Porras Argueta, has led several cases against communicators in recent years and the most emblematic is that of José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, an internationally recognized journalist who was arrested on July 29, 2022, a few days after launching criticism against the close circle of the then president, Alejandro Giammattei.
Zamora Marroquín, who recently served 600 days in prison, is still waiting for the repetition of the trial against him for an alleged money laundering case and indicated that since the arrival of Arévalo de León to power in January, he has been guaranteed decent conditions in his arrest.
Central America
Costa Rican President Presents Security Reform Package to Fight Crime and Strengthen Prisons
Costa Rican President Laura Fernández on Monday submitted a package of legislative proposals to the National Assembly aimed at strengthening public security, combating organized crime, and reforming the country’s prison system.
The president said the measures are designed to reinforce the government’s response to rising criminal violence and provide law enforcement authorities with stronger tools to confront growing security challenges.
Among the key initiatives is the proposed “Firm Hand Against Repeat Offenders Law,” which would establish mandatory pretrial detention for suspects accused of repeat criminal offenses, limiting judges’ ability to impose alternative precautionary measures.
The legislative package also includes the “Law to Combat Criminal Organizations,” which would impose prison sentences ranging from one to six years for individuals who participate in criminal groups. Penalties could increase to as much as 20 years for those linked to organizations involved in terrorism, drug trafficking, kidnapping, human trafficking, arms trafficking, or organ trafficking.
Another proposal, known as the “Zero Idleness in Prisons Law,” seeks to expand vocational training and paid work opportunities for inmates. Under the initiative, earnings generated by prisoners would help cover incarceration costs, support their families, and contribute to compensation for crime victims.
Fernández also introduced legislation aimed at expanding legal protections for police officers acting in self-defense and increasing penalties for individuals who assault or resist law enforcement personnel.
“It is now up to you, members of Congress, to make the decisions that our police officers and the families of crime victims have been waiting for,” the president told lawmakers as she urged them to support the reforms.
The president additionally highlighted progress on the construction of the High Containment Center Against Organized Crime (CACCO), a maximum-security prison modeled after the strategy implemented by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
According to Fernández, the project is currently 36 percent complete and forms part of a broader effort to strengthen Costa Rica’s capacity to confront organized crime and improve public safety.
The proposed reforms now move to the Legislative Assembly, where lawmakers will debate the measures and determine whether they will become part of Costa Rica’s legal framework in the coming months.
Central America
Nicaraguan media publishes photos of detained Indigenous leader amid calls for proof of life
A pro-government media outlet in Nicaragua published on Sunday a series of photographs showing Indigenous leader Steadman Fagoth Müller during a visit from his wife at the National Penitentiary System, days after an opposition alliance demanded proof of life, citing concerns that he could be a political prisoner subjected to enforced disappearance.
The images were shared by the outlet El 19 on its website, with a caption stating that the photos were taken during a scheduled prison visit on Friday, June 12, between Fagoth and his wife, Dr. Stefany Martínez.
The publication includes eleven photographs in which the Indigenous leader and former presidential adviser on Indigenous affairs appears seated with his wife in a room where two meals are served on a table. The images also carry a watermark indicating the date 12.06.2026 and the time 11:13.
The release of the photos comes after the opposition coalition Unidad Nacional Azul y Blanco called on the government of co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo to provide proof of life for at least nine political prisoners allegedly held in conditions of enforced disappearance, including Fagoth.
The request followed the recent death in state custody of Indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera Brayan, aged 73, which was reported by the Ministry of Health on May 31. Rivera had been arrested in September 2023.
Fagoth, a former presidential adviser on Indigenous policy, was detained by Nicaraguan police in September 2024 on allegations of attempting to “remove organic weapons” from the army.
His arrest came a day after local media circulated statements in which he criticized environmental damage caused by the arrival of armed non-Indigenous settlers in the Bosawás Reserve, a remote area near the Honduras border inhabited by Miskito and Mayangna communities.
The publication of the photographs has intensified scrutiny over the condition and legal status of detained opposition-linked figures in Nicaragua.
Central America
U.S. Authorities Accuse Guatemalan Nationals of Using False Information to Sponsor Migrant Minors
Senior officials from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday criminal charges against three Guatemalan citizens accused of using false information to sponsor migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without a parent or guardian.
According to an indictment filed in Ohio, Maritza Cahuec Coc allegedly submitted at least 12 sponsorship applications, several of which were filed under aliases or contained materially false statements intended to secure custody of the minors.
Under U.S. procedures, unaccompanied migrant children apprehended at the southern border are placed in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for their care until they can be released to a qualified sponsor, such as a parent or relative living in the United States.
Prosecutors allege that Cahuec Coc, who reportedly entered the United States illegally in 2018, received payments between late 2020 and 2023 for helping bring 12 migrant minors into the country. Authorities claim she submitted fraudulent documents and misleading information to obtain approval for the sponsorship requests.
The case was announced during a joint press conference led by Acting Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. However, officials provided limited details about the investigation and instead focused much of their remarks on criticizing immigration policies implemented under the previous administration.
Republican lawmakers and Trump administration officials have frequently pointed to the increase in unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border during President Joe Biden’s term, arguing that the government failed to adequately oversee their care and placement.
During Thursday’s briefing, A. Tysen Duva, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, alleged that Cahuec Coc used the identities of other individuals and falsely claimed family relationships in order to obtain custody of the children.
“Maritza submitted sponsorship applications using other people’s identities and falsely represented that the minors were the children of close relatives in order to secure their release,” Duva said.
The case remains under investigation, and federal authorities have not yet disclosed additional information regarding the other two Guatemalan nationals charged in connection with the alleged scheme.
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