The cost of expression
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The UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) identified three problems in the relationship between Guatemalan media and politics: high concentration of national media; dispersion in local, departmental and regional media; and affiliation of media outlets with political leaders. Some political leaders have founded outlets of their own or bought shares in other media outlets.
Until 2019, political parties could also spend millions on placing advertisements with media outlets. With the amendment of the Electoral Law and Political Parties (LEPP), political parties can no longer place advertisements in media outlets. Media outlets cannot make donations to political parties or carry advertisements favorable to them, unless they have enrolled with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE). The TSE will control and fund all advertisements at 20% of the usual rates charged by the media.
This amendment will negatively impact the media’s revenue in general, but it will have an even greater impact on print media, as stakeholders are increasingly favoring digital advertising. Even so, Guatemala remains a Partly Free country, scoring 31/60 in civil liberties 52/100 overall in Freedom House’s report. While the constitution protects freedom of speech, journalists and human rights activists - especially indigenous journalists and activists - face threats and acts of violence.
In October 2017, Carlos Choc, a Maya Q’eqchi’ journalist, had to go on the run after witnessing the murder of a fisherman by Guatemalan authorities during a protest against the Fernix mine. In September 2018, Juana Ramírez Santiago, a Mayan Ixil community leader and women’s rights activist became the 21st activist to be assassinated in Guatemala.
In September 2019, the government used a siege declaration to raid the office of the indigenous radio station Xyaab’ Tzuul Taq’a, operated by the Maya Q’eqchi, which supports arbitrarily accused and imprisoned persons who are defending indigenous and land rights. In September 2020, the authorities arrested the Maya K’iche’ radio journalist Anastasia Mejía Tiriquiz, director of the radio station Xol Abaj Radio and Xol Abaj TV, for allegedly participating in a demonstration.
It is these instances of repression - among many others - that have contributed to Guatemala’s rank of 116 in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index. These instances, combined with monopolization of television and radio by the Mexican businessman Ángel Gonzáles and the pro-government messages carried by the outlets he owns, highlight the need for creating an inclusive media infrastructure that highlights and amplifies the voices of indigenous people.
