Freedom of the Press/History/Country sources/Guatemala
What is the oldest written source in this country that mentions this right?
Guatemala
Article 175 of Guatemala’s first Constitution, which it ratified as a province in the United Provinces of Central America in 1824, protected press freedom: “The Congress, the Assemblies, or the other authorities may not restrict, in any case or by any pretext, the freedom of thought, that of the word, that of writing and that of the press” (Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, “Title X. Guarantees of individual freedom”). [Translated from Spanish]
Today, Article 35 of Guatemala’s 1985 Constitution protects press freedom: “The publications which contain denunciations, criticisms, or accusations [imputaciones] against functionaries or public employees for actions conducted in the performance of their duties[,] do not constitute a crime or a fault…The activity of the means of social communication is of public interest and in no case may they be expropriated. They may not be closed, attached [embargados], interfered with, confiscated, or seized [decomisados], nor may the enterprises, plants, equipment, machinery, and gear [enseres] of the means of communication be interrupted in their functioning, for faults or crimes in the expression of thought. The access to the sources of information is free and no authority may limit this right” (Constitute Project, “Guatemala's Constitution of 1985 with Amendments through 1993” ).