A court in Guatemala City has issued an arrest warrant in absentia for a prominent investigative journalist known for his reporting on governmental and judicial corruption in the country.
Juan Luis Font, director and host of the daily radio talk show “ConCriterio” and a co-founder of El Periodico newspaper in Guatemala, is accused of collusion and bribery, charges he denies.
The journalist, who lives in exile in France, told VOA he expected that a warrant would be issued because of his stories on corruption.
“They speak about me laundering money. They speak about me being bribed. And they have not been able to build up any of these cases. Instead, they have proceeded with these accusations against me,” he said.
Watchdogs say the Justice Department in Guatemala often uses the threat of legal action to silence critical voices. The press freedom environment in the country is “dire,” according to the free expression group Fundamedios, which said journalists have difficulty bringing corruption cases to light because they are frequently prosecuted.
The Guatemala Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to VOA’s request for comment.
Font said he has been vocal about allegations of corruption in the judiciary.
“I am not a person who is going to be well-seen by the people in power,” he said.
Guatemala experienced years of corruption before electing current President Bernardo Arevalo, who ran on an anti-corruption platform in 2023.
There are “serious problems” with the independence of the Guatemalan judiciary, according to a 2023 State Department country report. The report found inefficiency, corruption and “manipulation of justice” within the justice system, and many who are arrested are denied fair, public trials.
Judicial harassment of journalists has also been on the rise, according to the watchdog group Reporters Without Borders.
“The Justice Department is still in the hands of people who really want to silence all the critical voices, all the people who do investigations, and the people who bring to light what’s happening in Guatemala,” Dagmar Thiel, U.S. CEO of Fundamedios, told VOA. “And Juan Luis is one of the strongest critical voices in Guatemala.”
Font is one of the most well-known journalists in Guatemala, according to Thiel.
He co-founded El Periodico with Jose Ruben Zamora, who spent more than two years in prison in what watchdogs say was retaliatory action.
Zamora is currently under house arrest after an appeals court overturned a conviction on money laundering charges in October.
Zamora’s son, Jose Carlos, told VOA that Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Porras and special prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche have led an “assault” on press freedom.
“This group fabricates cases and issues unlawful rulings to silence journalists exposing corruption,” Jose Carlos wrote to VOA.
The case against Font has been condemned by international groups. The National Press Club in Washington demanded an end to the harassment that Font and other Guatemalan journalists experience.
Cases like these highlight the “animosity Guatemala’s judicial authorities have for independent and critical journalism,” club president Emily Wilkins said in a statement Tuesday. “Journalism is not a crime, and Font is not a criminal.”
Font told VOA that one of the accusations against him is “bribing” an anti-corruption judge named Erika Aifan, who fled Guatemala in 2022.
The alleged bribe, he said, is a “Person of the Year” award that Font presented to her on “ConCriterio.”
“It’s absolutely nuts,” Font said. “They said I granted her a payment in the form of an honor two years before I knew I would even need her help.”
Font is one of around 20 Guatemalan journalists now in exile who fled Guatemala to avoid legal retaliation, Thiel of Fundamedios said.
In France, Font is still running his radio show.
“I did the right thing by leaving my country two years ago, and I have been well,” he said. “I’m sleeping peacefully, because I’m sure that they’re not going to be able to put me in jail the next morning.”
