Marielos Monzon, Guatemala

Monzon began her journalism career at Radio Sonora in 1997, reporting on human rights violations from the civil war. She began receiving threats in 1998 when four gunmen came to her home and smashed the windows of her car. In June 2002, intruders again entered her house. This time they took her dog. At the same time, anonymous callers told her to stop reporting on human rights abuses or risk harm to her children, prompting Monzon to send them out of the country for several months.

In December 2002, threats resumed when Monzon wrote a column about the disappearance of Antonio Pop, an indigenous leader. Callers said that she would suffer the same fate as Pop, whose body was found at the bottom of a well near a military base a week later. In February 2003, Monzon wrote a column about the Guatemalan army’s human rights violations against the civilian population during the 1980’s. On March 2, intruders entered her home, leaving signs of their visit as a warning to her. During the period before and just after the incident, Monzon received 26 threatening phone calls. Despite years of threats to her life and the lives of her children, Monzon continues to pursue the truth about the human rights abuses that have torn her country apart.