Solidarity with Nelton Rivera and Prensa Comunitaria in the face of threats of imprisonment
The notorious "pact of corrupt officials" that has co-opted Guatemala's justice system continues its advance against the country's fragile democracy. This violent and criminal network, comprised of politicians, businesspeople, media outlets, and judicial officials—whose visible head is Attorney General Consuelo Porras—has indicated, with complete impunity, that its latest target is the renowned newspaper Prensa Comunitaria and its director, Nelton Rivera. This was done through an anonymous profile, X, which typically anticipates the Public Prosecutor's Office's spurious and punitive actions.
From its inception, Prensa Comunitaria has focused on denouncing the violence, illegality, and injustice experienced by communities targeted by corporations and state agents, providing timely reports on acts of dispossession and the forms of organization that have emerged to fight against them. For this reason, defamation, persecution, and threats from those who saw their impunity exposed have been part of Prensa Comunitaria's history—attacks that its sister publication, the feminist magazine Ruda, would later also inherit.
Over the course of more than ten years, several journalists from these media outlets have suffered criminal prosecution, been imprisoned, beaten, and even lost their lives in the line of duty. Some have had to leave their homes and even their country for doing their job, for showing society how “development” and “democracy” are experienced in their communities.
Prensa Comunitaria, thanks to its professionalism, rigor, and ability to generate information, is an irreplaceable source of information for understanding the ongoing process of the hijacking of democracy across Guatemala. From the fraudulent elections at the University of San Carlos (USAC) to the current ongoing destabilization efforts, including the 2023 elections and the resolute popular action against this theft, everything that has happened has been narrated, analyzed, commented on, and documented by the team at this media outlet.
Those who work in community journalism have been targeted by this alliance, which has already begun to take action, its first step being the dissemination of an image of Nelton Rivera behind bars alongside José Rubén Zamora, owner of El Periódico and a political prisoner since 2022. The image, accompanied by the text “You are advised to sleep with your sneakers on and tied tightly; you will soon be behind bars. Release the dogs. @MPguatemala,” is a clear threat to silence the director of Prensa Comunitaria and, by extension, the entire media outlet.
Therefore, the CLACSO Working Group on Violence in Central America expresses its support and solidarity with Nelton Rivera and the entire team behind Prensa Comunitaria. We need this media outlet to continue learning about what is happening in Guatemala.
We demand guarantees for the exercise of the right to free expression, which is being systematically violated in the country. We demand that the Guatemalan public authorities cease the threats and halt the illegal and violent actions of the Attorney General of the Public Prosecutor's Office, Consuelo Porras. We urge Guatemalan society—women, men, Maya, Xinka, Garifuna, and mestizo people, youth and children, dissidents, and diverse groups—to remain vigilant about the situation in the country and to engage in critical analysis and collective action to defend the interests of all.
April 11th 2025
CLACSO Working Group
Violence in Central America
This statement expresses the position of the aforementioned Working Group and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.
