Arrest of prominent Guatemalan journalist draws condemnation

McGovern wrote in his Twitter account, “The judiciary is already decimated, is the Free Press next? Journalism is not a crime!”

Zamora Marroquín has declared a hunger strike. Speaking before a court hearing, he said, “I haven’t eaten anything nor drunk any water in 36 hours.”

The U.S. government has sharply criticized the weakening of anti-corruption efforts in Guatemala and last year cancelled the U.S. visa of Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been pursuing former prosecutors who had been conducting corruption investigations against officials..

More than former anti-corruption officials have fled the country. Now that effort appears to have extended to journalists.

Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei has been dismissive of U.S. officials’ criticism of his attorney general and what they see as a backsliding in Guatemala on battling corruption. The country’s new special prosecutor against impunity has been placed on a U.S. list of people suspected of corruption or undermining democracy. He is accused of obstructing corruption investigations.

Giammattei’s government and prosecutors accelerated efforts begun by his predecessor to undo a U.N.-backed anti-corruption campaign that put several top officials, including former presidents, behind bars. They say those prosecutions themselves were irregular.

Moreover, a number of the Guatemalans, including two Supreme Court magistrates, were allegedly involved in a scheme to stack the Supreme and Appellate Courts with corrupt judges, according to the State Department report.