Two More Journalists Killed in Guatemala

The killing of journalists continues, as the murder of two journalists from Guatemala makes the news. As many people are well aware, journalist have been suffering extreme hostilities in many countries around the world, particularly in Central and South American countries. This issue is part of the gruesome battle over press freedom.

On February 1, Laurent Ángel Castillo Cifuentes and Luis Alfredo de León Miranda were discovered — with hands and feet bound with a gunshot to the head — in a field in Mazatenango, southwestern Guatemala. Such execution style killings have occurred with disturbing regularity in recent years.

In Guatemala, press freedom groups are demanding swift government action. In a statement the Committee to Protect Journalists said these murders will “further chill the climate for press freedom in Guatemala, where journalists work with constant fear of intimidation and violence.” The Association of Journalists of Guatemala reported that 11 media workers were killed in the Guatemala in 2017. Also, the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, called on the authorities to investigate the murder of the two journalists.