Guatemala: Information on whether there is a training program for radio announcers run by senior journalists Ricardo López and Marco Monzon; on whether there is a training school for radio announcers by the name of "Escuela de Periodismo" and, if so, on whether the Guatemalan College of Journalists is aware of its existence
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 October 1995 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | GTM21412.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Guatemala: Information on whether there is a training program for radio announcers run by senior journalists Ricardo López and Marco Monzon; on whether there is a training school for radio announcers by the name of "Escuela de Periodismo" and, if so, on whether the Guatemalan College of Journalists is aware of its existence, 1 October 1995, GTM21412.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac0f54.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
In a telephone interview with the DIRB on 2 October 1995, the research associate for the Americas at the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists reported the following information after interviewing the director of the E scuela de Communicación (school of communication) of the State University of San Carlos, in Guatemala.
According to the research associate, the director stated that, to his knowledge, there is no school or institute by the name of Escuela de Periodismo in Guatemala.
The University of San Carlos offers, through its Escuela de Communicación, a three program curriculum: locución (announcing), periodismo (journalism) and publicidad (advertising). The director told the research associate that it was possible that the periodismo program given by San Carlos University's Escuela de Communicación could be mistaken for a private school. The director added that there are two private schools of journalism in Guatemala: the Escuela de Periodismo Rafael Andibar and the Escuela de Sciencias de Communicación Marroquin.
The director also told the the research associate that he did not know a journalist by the name of Marco Monzon, but that he was aware that a student named Ricardo López had graduated from the periodismo program at the Escuela de Communicación. The director could not state in which year Ricardo López graduated.
The research associate for the Americas at the Committee to Protect Journalists stated that there is no Guatemalan College of Journalists as such (Colegio de Periodistas). The research associate is only aware of two journalists associations: the Camara Guatemalteca de Periodistas (Guatemalan Chamber of Journalists) and the Asociación de Periodistas de Guatemala (Association of Journalists of Guatemala). The DIRB was unable to contact these two organizations.
In a letter sent to the DIRB on 2 October 1995, the Paris- based organization Reporters sans frontières stated that a journalist by the name of Gorson Ricardo López Orantes has been the target of many human rights abuses in 1993, 1994 and 1995.
Two such incidents in September 1994 and October 1993 are reported by the Guatemalan Human Rights Update (16 Sept. 1994, 4). However, both of these sources do not refer to López as a radio announcer, but as a print reporter.
Reporters sans frontières also forwarded a 6 April 1995 letter the organization sent to the Guatemalan president. In it, the organization quotes the director of the newspaper La República, stating that López' name is on a black list of judicial reporters which is currently circulating in journalist circles (6 Apr. 1995).
Reporters sans frontières could not provide information on existence of an Escuela de Periodismo.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted by the DIRB for this Response to Information Request.
References
Committee to Protect Journalists, New York. 2 October 1995. Telephone interview with the research associate for the Americas.
Guatemalan Human Rights Update [Washington, DC]. 16 September 1994. No. 19.
Reporters Sans Frontières, Paris. 2 October 1995a. Information package sent to the DIRB.
_____. 2 October 1995b. Telephone interview with representative for the Americas.
_____. 6 April 1995. Letter sent to the Guatemalan president, forwarded to the DIRB.
Attachment
Reporters sans frontières, Paris. 2 October 1995a. Information package sent to the DIRB.
Additional Sources Consulted
Amnesty International Report. 1995. New York: Amnesty International.
Attacks on the Press. Yearly. New York: Committee to Protect Journalists.
Central America Newspak [Austin, Tx]. 1994-1995.
Central America Report [Guatemala City]. 1994-1995.
Central America Update [Toronto]. 1994.
Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Yearly. New York: Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Reports. Daily.
Guatemala Human Rights Update. 1994-1995.
Human Rights Watch. Yearly. Human Rights Watch World Report. New York: Human Rights Watch.
Indexed Media Review (IMR)
Index on Censorship [London]. Monthly. Writers and Scholars International Ltd.
Inter-Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America (ICCHRLA). Yearly. Annual Reports: General Concerns and Brief Country Reports.
Keesing's Record of World Events. Yearly. Edited by Roger East. London: Longman.
Latin America Update [Washington]. Monthly.
Latinamerica Press [Lima]. Weekly.
Latin American Newsletters [London]. Monthly.
Latin American Regional Reports: Caribbean and Central America Report [London].
La lettre de Reporters sans frontières [Paris]. Monthly.
World Media Handbook. Yearly. New York: United Nation
Oral sources.