Second journalist murdered in Jutiapa department, motive still unknown

Reporters Without Borders and the Guatemala Information Centre (CERIGUA) condemn journalist and media owner Luis Alberto Lemus Ruano’s murder in a pharmacy he owned Jalpatagua, in the southeastern department of Jutiapa, on 7 April. The two partner organizations urge the authorities to quickly establish the motive for Lemus’ murder, which came just three weeks after Jaime Napoleón Jarquín Duarte was murdered on 20 March in a nearby town in the same department. Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by the resurgence in violence against journalists in Guatemala. Lemus was with one of his employees in the pharmacy when an unidentified gunman burst in, opened fire and then fled in a waiting vehicle driven by an accomplice. Lemus was rushed to a local hospital where he died soon afterwards. Vice-president of the Jutiapa Journalists Association (APJ) since 30 November, Lemus ran a local radio station, Radio Stereo Café, owned a local cable TV station, Café TV, and produced a news programme called “La Mochila” that was broadcast on both stations every Monday. As well as being a journalist and owning several shops and pharmacies, Lemus was involved in local politics. He was Jutiapa’s governor from 2008 to 2010 and had run three times for mayor of the nearby municipality of Moyuta without success. APJ president Misael Mayen said Lemus have never reported receiving any threats in connection with his journalistic activities. As his killer did not take anything, the police have ruled out robbery as a possible motive.