Guatemalan journalist released from prison fears for the future and being targeted for his work

By SONIA PÉREZ D.
Updated 11:57 PM CDT, October 28, 2024

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — When Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora returned to his home after more than two years in prison without a conviction, he found it empty. He said it smelled of abandonment after his family fled the country, fearing they would face his same fate.

On Monday, one week after his release, Zamora discussed his own uncertain future in an interview with The Associated Press under the shadow of efforts to keep him behind bars and his concern for other journalists that do the kind of investigative work he did.

Not only have Guatemalan journalists — including eight from the outlet El Periódico that he founded — been forced into exile under threat of prosecution, but those who remain wrestle with the fear that if they investigate “they can end up in jail,” Zamora said.

Thrust into the spotlight, the 68-year-old journalist is shy, not keen to be the target of news. He said he can still feel the aftermath of imprisonment in his bones, and also in his day-to-day life after funding his legal defense forced him to sell his belongings, only skating by through support from his children.

More:
https://apnews.com/article/guatemala-journalist-zamora-interview-jailed-23dc6016a4b3e9b7dc104c390e603b8a




Periodista José Rubén Zamora







Zamora with Guatemala's President Bernardo Arévalo de León