Threats against the Media in Guatemala

Christopher Toothaker of the Associated Press has a story out today on NGO: Press freedoms threatened in Latin America. In it, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that "a rise in censorship can be seen throughout Latin America, caused by government repression, judicial interference, and intimidation from criminal groups."

The CPJ's 2011 report found that violence against journalists in Mexico and Central America is linked to drug gangs and that the violence is "striking fear into reporters and self-censorship within the media."

Last week, the CPJ reported on a series of threats against Oscar de León, a television journalist with the Guatevisión TV network. The CPJ is calling on Guatemalan authorities to investigate the source of the threats and to take steps to protect De León.

Mr. De León and his family have received multiple death threats via text messaging and landlines. On January 28, his van was also van peppered with bullets while his brother was driving it . These threats started after he received a folder documenting alleged police corruption in a southwestern municipality of Quetzaltenango. After receiving the material, he did published any of it, but instead approached the mayor. The mayor then brought the issue up for all the town to see when he met with the town's Municipal Council. At that point, the threats began.

De León said he believes the shooting and threats are related to his investigation into allegations of corruption against the city's transit police chief, Manuel Adolfo Blanco. Quetzaltenango-based daily El Quetzalteco quoted Blanco denying accusations of corruption. Blanco's contract with the transit police, which expired on January 31, was not renewed, local news media reported.

According to the CPJ, seventeen journalists have been killed in Guatemala since 1992 .