Guatemalan reporters receive disturbing threats for op-ed articles

After writing about sensitive issues, two Guatemalan journalists and their families received threats, according to Reporters Without Borders.

A masked protester waves a communist flag from the statue of former mayor of Guatemala City Mario Mendez Montenegro during a protest commemorating Revolution Day in Guatemala City, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012. Photo credit: AP Photo/Moises Castillo

Carolina Vásquez’s piece covered the issue of sexual assault among the children of agricultural workers at the hands of farm owners; Jorge Jacobs wrote about the commercial rivalry in the food and drink distribution sector.

As Oct. 1 marked Guatemala’s Children’s Day, Vásquez sought to uncover the increasing problem of rape among adolescents. The reporter “accused Guatemala’s government agencies and institutions of being partly to blame for the fact that the rape of minors is so widespread, although rarely reported,” according to Reporters Without Borders.

One of the threatening emails sent to Vásquez was sent after her article was published: “We’ll hack your family to pieces and send them to you in a cotton sack,” the email read according to the Guatemalan Centre for Reports and Information.

Vásquez said in a statement to Reporters Without Borders that she will continue to report.

Jacobs said that he received threats via telephone and email after publishing an article about Cabcorp, a distributor of Pepsi Cola and other soft drinks. Jacobs’ column discussed rumors that another regional company might be taking over Cabcorp.

Reporters Without Borders condemned the threats and said on their website "Vásquez and Jacobs showed journalistic courage by tackling risky subjects and now all their colleagues should rally to their support in the name of the duty to report news and information."

By Raven Maragh.