IPI is shocked and saddened by the killing of two Guatemalan journalists by unidentified assailants on Friday, August 11, and calls on the local authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.

The armed attack that resulted in the killing of Edin Alonso and Hugo Gutiérrez took place in the Caballo Blanco municipality in the province of Retalhuleu, in southwestern Guatemala. Alonso and Gutiérrez were on a motorcycle returning from an assignment covering the death of a local woman when they were attacked by unidentified assailants on a moped and shot multiple times, according to local media sources. Both suffered gunshot wounds to various parts of the body  and died at the scene.

Alonso and Gutiérrez were administrators of the Noticias Caballo Blanco news page on Facebook, which reports on the events in the Caballo Blanco region.

The motive behind the attack and whether it was in relation to the work of the journalists is unclear. There are no known eye-witnesses to the crime, but Guatemalan police have stated they believe it was a direct attack targeted at Edin and Gutierrez, not a random assault.

“IPI strongly condemns the killing of Edin Alonso and Hugo Gutiérrez”, IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen said. “Guatemalan authorities must immediately and thoroughly investigate this crime to determine the motive and in particular whether their killing is linked to their journalistic work. All those responsible for these murders, including any masterminds, must be swiftly brought to justice.”

After Alejandro Giammattei became president in 2020, press freedom in Guatemala has gradually declined and journalists have faced increasing harassment, attacks and violence.

IPI has repeatedly condemned the arrest and the sentencing of IPI World Press Freedom Hero José Rubén Zamora, who has been convicted on politically motivated money laundering charges and sentenced to six years in prison. Rubén Zamora is a Guatemalan journalist and the founder of now-closed independent newspaper elPeriódico.

Earlier this year, journalist Eduardo Fernando Mendizabal Gálvez was shot to death on the outskirts of Guatemala City. Three days after the killing, the Public Ministry of Guatemala announced that they were working with several open hypotheses on what had happened.

Last year, Harold Orlando Villanueva, a reporter and owner of an online news site Noticias del Puerto was shot and killed while playing sports in Puerto Barrios on March 8, 2022.