International Press Freedom Group Denounces Murder of Guatemalan Journalist

An international press freedom group denounced the murder of a journalist in Guatemala whose death threats went ignored by government officials.

Bryan Guerra, a television sports journalist in Guatemala died earlier this week at a local hospital following several days of medical care after being shot by group of gunmen riding in a vehicle. The journalist driving a motorcycle in the city of Chiquimula, approximately 61 miles east of Guatemala City, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported.

“Guatemalan authorities must open a credible investigation into the killing of Bryan Guerra and determine if it was linked to his reporting,” CPJ Central and South America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick said. “When violence against journalists remains unsolved in places like eastern Guatemala, a historical hotspot for organized crime, it only serves to further silence the press”

According to the CPJ, local journalist associations in Guatemala claimed that Guerra had been the target of threats in the past Those threats were allegedly ignored by local police and prosecutors.

The press freedom group documented a total of 24 murdered journalists and media workers since 1992. Out of those, six cases are of journalists whose deaths are linked directly to their work. Much like in Mexico, many of the threats and attacks on journalists go unsolved. As Breitbart Texas reported, Mexico reported two murdered journalists so far in 2020, 11 in 2019 and in 2018 there were 19 murdered journalists and media workers. Most of those cases remain unsolved.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.