The imprisonment of journalist and founder of the newspaper 'elPeriódico', Jose Rubén Zamora – also a 2023 laureate of RSF’s Press Freedom Prize – has become a flagrant and unavoidable emblem of the press freedom situation in Guatemala.
Following an advocacy mission to Guatemala, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has underscored the urgent need for the release of elPeriódico publisher Jose Rubén Zamora as a matter of priority for the new administration of President Bernardo Arévalo. Travelling to the country from 4 to 7 February, RSF’s Latin America Bureau Director Artur Romeu visited the journalist in prison and attended a court hearing in a money-laundering case against Zamora, in addition to meeting with representatives of the new government.