José Rubén Zamora

José Rubén Zamora Marroquín (born August 19 1956) is the founder of three of Guatemala's most important newspapers, "Siglo Veintiuno" ("21st Century") in 1990; "El Periódico" ("The Newspaper") in 1996 and "Nuestro Diario" in 1998. Although he has generated great controversy in his role as editor-in-chief of the newspapers, he continues to edit the latter today.

He received the Maria Moore Cabot Prize from Columbia University in 1994 and the CPJ International Press Freedom Award from the Committee of Journalists in 1994. In 2000, he was named one of 50 Press Freedom Heroes of the 20th century by the International Press Institute.

Early career

Zamora began working as a reporter in "La Hora" ("The Hour"), a newspaper owned by his family, when he was 17. After graduating in industrial engineering and business administration, he founded a news and production company in 1986 before launching "Siglo Veintiuno" four years later.

"Siglo Veintiuno"

Zamora and his staff were very quickly the subject of harassment, including receiving death threats and being attacked. He came into particularly sharp conflict with the government of Jorge Serrano Elías. After suspending Guatemala's constitution in May 1993, Serrano invoked censorship of the press. Zamora responded to the restrictions by temporarily renaming his paper "Siglo Catorce" ("14th Century") and covering the censored segments with blocks of ink. Copies were burnt on the streets. Zamora faxed the uncensored version to various places outside Guatemala, resulting in greater condemnation of the Serrano regime in the international community. Indeed, Zamora's campaign against Serrano's suspension of the constitution is considered to be one of the main reasons why the latter eventually abandoned power and fled to El Salvador.

In 1995, after an article linking certain high ranking military officers with organised crime, he was forced off the road and threatened. He refused to stop his investigations, and the death threats continued. In May 1996 Zamora resigned his post as editor due to disagreements with the newspaper's board of directors. Two days later a grenade was thrown at his car while it was parked outside a restaurant where he was eating. Zamora believed this was an attempt to halt his plans to set up a new newspaper.

"El Periódico"

Zamora's new newspaper, "El Periódico", was launched on November 6, 1996, thanks to the donations of 125 citizens who supported his stand on press freedom. It was bought by the owners of "Prensa Libre", Guatemala's best-selling newspaper, in 1997. In June 2003 armed men entered Zamora's house, and held him and his family as hostages for several hours. Held at gunpoint in front of his wife and children, he was tied to a chair, and told that the government wanted him to stop his negative reporting. Due to the dangerous situation, Zamora was forced to send his family into exile in Miami until the forthcoming presidential elections were over, but he stayed in Guatemala himself to continue his uncompromising coverage of the election.

Zamora's efforts have helped create a much stronger and more independent press in Guatemala. On October 15, 2003 he was awarded the Knight Award.

External links

* [http://www.freemedia.at/IPIReport/Heroes_IPIReport2.00/50Zamora.htm Biography]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3028928.stm BBC article on 2003 attack]
* [http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=60107 'Guatemalan Editor Names Attackers' - Poynter Online]
* [http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/65026 Former soldier sentenced for attack on Zamora] - IFEX