We recently had the opportunity to have a phone conversation with Maria, one of many Guatemalan citizen journalists who want justice and freedom in a nation burdened with corruption and violence.

Maria told us about the realities of Guatemala, as well as how the internet has helped create awareness.

Please watch this video, and do what you can to spread the word about the situation in Guatemala.

Don’t forget to also see: Part 1 and Part 2

We recently had the opportunity to have a phone conversation with Maria, one of many Guatemalan citizen journalists who want justice and freedom in a nation burdened with corruption and violence.

Maria told us about the realities of Guatemala, as well as how the internet has helped create awareness.

Please watch this video, and do what you can to spread the word about the situation in Guatemala.

Don’t forget to also see: Part 1 and Part 3.

We recently had the opportunity to have a phone conversation with Maria, one of many Guatemalan citizen journalists who want justice and freedom in a nation burdened with corruption and violence.

Maria told us about the realities of Guatemala, as well as how the internet has helped create awareness.

Please watch this video, and do what you can to spread the word about the situation in Guatemala.

Don’t forget to also see: Part 2 and Part 3.

The Guatemalan Twitterer Jean Anleu (@Jeanfer) has finally been released*. Bail was paid through the support of his employer and the people who sent donations via PayPal. Jean expressed his thankfulness and relief in this interview (Spanish).

Once able to log-in to his Twitter account, Jean changed his background and profile pictures, removed his name and other personal information, and protected his account (removing himself from the public Twitter timeframe and allowing only people he approves to be able to view his updates).

He also removed most of the content on his WordPress blog.

While Twitter has put a strain on the Guatemalan government (as posted on Spanish blog “Alt1040“) and many have called this an example of the Streisand Effect, it is possible that people in countries where freedom of speech is not encouraged will have to think twice about posting observations and/or opinions on Twitter and other social networks.

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Guatemala is currently enduring a political scandal that involves the murder of a whistleblowing Guatemalan lawyer named Rodrigo Rosenberg and a video that emerged on YouTube shortly after (see the bottom of this post). In the video, the lawyer predicted his assasination stating that if anybody watched the video it was because he had been murdered by corrupt government officials (and approved by president Alvaro Colom). The claims are just accusations at this point, but it has definitely created quite a stir with Guatemalans, and has started to get attention worldwide.

As the YouTube videos and transcripts spread through the internet, thousands started commenting and sharing links on social networks, resulting in a rampant protest against the government. While demonstrators started protesting outside the presidential palace in Guatemala City, others posted their outraged thoughts online.

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