José Rubén Zamora returned to a quiet empty house last fall - his family had left Guatemala due to safety worries His two-year stay in prison (without any conviction) left him with no money and an uncertain future
The 68-year-old ex-newspaper owner dont feel comfortable being in news headlines now: his bones still hurt from jail-time and he had to sell everything to pay lawyers His kids help him get by but its hard to manage without personal funds
Zamora spent three decades doing news work - including 24 years running El Periódico newspaper which looked into government wrong-doing. This work became risky in Guatemala where officials tried to stop President Arévalo from taking office by raiding election places
The trouble started in mid-2022 when agents came to Zamoraʼs house and took him away They said he was hiding money after getting a $38‚000 donation for his paper (which he asked someone else to put in bank) A judge threw out his first case; then they made new charges but finally let him go because keeping him locked up went against human rights
Eight reporters from his old paper live in other countries now after writing about corrupt judges His newspaper is gone - all thats left are old copies in his garage He has to check in with prosecutors office but worries when people say hi to him: “I dont want them to get in trouble for being nice to me“