Guatemalan journalist released from prison fears for the future and being targeted for his work

Associated Press

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — When Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora returned to his home last week after more than two years in prison without a conviction, he found it empty. He said it smelled of abandonment after his family fled the country fearing they would face a similar fate. Now, one week after his release from prison, he discussed his own uncertain future in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday. Not only have Guatemalan journalists, including eight from the outlet El Periódico that he founded, been forced into exile under threat of prosecution, but those who remain wrestle with the fear that if they investigate “they can end up in jail,” Zamora said.