Rios Montt and the Guatemalan press
I was curious at to this bogus claim made on another thread regarding press coverage of Rios Montt and his atrocities:
"And none of them make the Guatemalan press, except maybe with a brief, vague, passing mention buried on a back page. "
So I did an online search of the largest Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre (not to be confused with the Cuban government shitrag Prensa Latina). Also, the Siglo 21 another paper. I found the claim interesting because the Guatemalan press has been historically hard on their mostly corrupt governments. During the Jorge Serrano auto-coup he shut down the press. Siglo 21 responded by publishing an edition anyway that was completely devoid of any article or print whatsoever save the press banner.
I searched Prensa Latina first for Rios Montt and found 4 pages of links on Rios Montt and his atrocities in just the last two months. 4 pages of links just from Prensa Latina on Rios MOntt, I repeat. On Siglo 21 I found 10 pages of links to stories just from Siglo 21 on Rios Montt and it seems just this year.
I then searched for Jennifer Harbury, whose Guatemalan husband was tortured and killed by the military, and found 9 pages of links just on Siglo 21 website. I recall her story from way back in the 90s. Clearly someone is purposely making false claims, and others are all too eager to accept these false claims.
Not sure why this individual chose to take a swipe at the press, but its just a pattern of posting any b.s. Perhaps, reruns of Alo Presidente would be a more appropriate activity for our dimwitted chavista friends.
Prensa Libre on Rios Montt http://www.prensalibre.com/archivo/?text=rios montt&page=1
Siglo 21 on Rios Montt http://www.s21.com.gt/search/google/rios%20montt?query=rios%20montt&cx=017238256316942201728%3A1-7gdx7w70k&cof=FORID%3A11&sitesearch=
Jennifer Harbury http://www.s21.com.gt/search/google/jennifer%20harbury?query=jennifer%20harbury&cx=017238256316942201728%3A1-7gdx7w70k&cof=FORID%3A11&sitesearch=
http://www.prensalibre.com/noticias/justicia/Retrocede-proceso-Rios-Montt_0_903509871.html
http://www.prensalibre.com/noticias/justicia/Reinicia-genocidio-exdictador-Rios-Montt_0_889111310.html
..
Con Gálvez el proceso continuó durante la primera instancia penal, incorporó a los militares Efraín Ríos Montt y José Mauricio Rodríguez
Ríos Montt y José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez son acusados de ser los responsables intelectuales de la muerte de mil 771 indígenas ixiles, a manos del Ejército, en 16 diferentes matanzas colectivas ocurridas entre marzo de 1982 a agosto de 1982, cuando el primero gobernó de facto el país, y el segundo fue jefe de la Dirección de Inteligencia Militar.
= new reply since forum marked as read
had to respond to that nonsense. Since you live in Guate its odd you get your news from the Cuban government's rag.
anyway regarding Siglo 21:
Founded in 1990 by José Rubén Zamora, the paper advocated judicial and tax reforms, and reported on dangerous subjects including narcotics smuggling, human rights issues, guerrilla groups, and corruption in the government of President Jorge Serrano. As a result, Zamora and the staff received death threats and were subject to physical attacks.[1]
Three years later, Guatemala saw a constitutional crisis, in which Serrano suspended the constitution and dissolved Congress. He also instituted press censorship, surrounding the Siglo Veintiuno offices with national police forces. During this period, Zamora satirized the censorship by renaming the paper Siglo Catorce ("14th Century"
and running stories covered in solid blocks of ink; he also faxed uncensored versions of the stories to newspapers in neighboring countries. The International Press Institute credits this clandestine reporting with contributing to Serrano's condemnation by the international community and his eventual flight from the country.[1]
Zamora and other staff members were attacked several times in connection with their reporting. In 1995, Zamora's car was driven off the road by two people who threatened to kill him for publishing allegations in Siglo Veintiuno that the military of Guatemala had links to organized crime. In May 1996, attackers drove past his parked car, throwing two grenades at it; Zamora was unhurt.[1]
In May 1996, Zamora left the paper following disagreements with its board of directors and founded a new paper, El Periódico.[1]
In 1995, Zamora and the Siglo Veintiuno staff won International Press Freedom Awards from the Committee to Protect Journalists, which recognize courage in defending press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, or imprisonment.[2] In the same year, Zamora won the Maria Moors Cabot Prize from Columbia University "for promoting press freedom and inter-American understanding".[3] In 2000, he was named one of 50 World Press Freedom Heroes of the 20th century by the International Press Institute.[4] The citation stated that "Zamora and Siglo Veintiuno were in the forefront of a civilian resistance that forced President Jorge Serrano Elias to relinquish his post after he attempted to seize dictatorial power in 1993."[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siglo_Veintiuno
