Gustavo Andrés Gorriti Ellenbogen (born 4 February 1948,
Lima, Peru
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
)
is a Peruvian journalist known for his reporting on rebel groups, government corruption, and drug trafficking. In 2011, the
European Journalism Centre
The European Journalism Centre (EJC) is an independent, non-profit institute, based in Maastricht, Limburg, The Netherlands.
Operations
Its aim is to give further training to mid-career journalists and media professionals. The institute also a ...
described him as having "been awarded more prizes than probably any other Peruvian journalist".
[ He is the founder of IDL-Reporteros.
]
Journalism in Peru
Gorriti first gained fame as a journalist in the 1980s reporting on Peru's internal conflicts between the government and terrorist groups such as the Shining Path
The Shining Path ( es, Sendero Luminoso), officially the Communist Party of Peru (, abbr. PCP), is a communist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group in Peru following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the gro ...
.[ In addition to his news articles, he wrote a three-volume book on the organization.]
While working for the weekly '' Caretas'' in 1992, he reported links between the government and narcotics traffickers, particularly implicating Vladimiro Montesinos
Vladimiro Lenin Ilich Montesinos Torres (born 20 May 1945) is a former long-standing head of Peru's intelligence service, National Intelligence Service (SIN), under President Alberto Fujimori. In the year 2000, the infamous "Vladi-videos" came ...
, President Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Kenya Fujimori Inomoto ( or ; born 28 July 1938) is a Peruvian politician, professor and former engineer who was President of Peru from 28 July 1990 until 22 November 2000. Frequently described as a dictator,
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he remains a ...
's "strong man". Anger over the articles led a commando squad from the Peruvian army to break into his home and abduct him during the 1992 Peruvian constitutional crisis
A self-coup, sometimes known as the ''Fujimorazo'', was performed in Peru in 1992 after President Alberto Fujimori dissolved the Congress as well as the judiciary and assumed full legislative and judicial powers. With the collaboration of the mil ...
, in which Fujimori dissolved Congress and detained several opposition figures.[
Gorriti's wife, who had been present for the kidnapping, followed a plan that the pair had previously arranged, calling international press NGOs as well as the US government. The immediate international pressure caused Gorriti to be transferred to official detention the following day, a response that he later said probably saved his life.][ He was released on 8 April, two days after his initial abduction.][
In 2009, Fujimori was convicted by a Peruvian court for ordering the Gorriti kidnapping, among other human rights abuses, and sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment. In November 2021, his former adviser, ]Vladimiro Montesinos
Vladimiro Lenin Ilich Montesinos Torres (born 20 May 1945) is a former long-standing head of Peru's intelligence service, National Intelligence Service (SIN), under President Alberto Fujimori. In the year 2000, the infamous "Vladi-videos" came ...
, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the kidnapping.
Exile in US and Panama
Following his release, Gorriti left Peru.[ He then worked for a time in the US, first as a fellow at the ]Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington D.C. with operations in Europe, South and East Asia, and the Middle East as well as the United States. Founded in ...
in Washington, D.C. and at the University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
's North-South Center
The North-South Center, later named The Dante B. Fascell North-South Center at the University of Miami, was an independent research and educational institution established in 1984 at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. ...
in Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
.[
Gorriti moved to Panama in 1996, reporting there for '' La Prensa''. He began writing again about links between government officials and drug traffickers, and again was the target of threats.]
That year, he reported that a bank that had recently failed had been laundering money for Colombia's Cali Cartel
The Cali Cartel ( es, Cartel de Cali) was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca. Its founders were the brothers Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela. They broke away fr ...
. He also alleged that some of the President Ernesto Pérez Balladares
Ernesto Pérez Balladares González-Revilla (born June 29, 1946), nicknamed ''El Toro'' ("The Bull"), is a Panamanian politician who was the President of Panama between 1994 and 1999.
Educated in the United States, Pérez Balladares worked as ...
' appointments were guided by nepotism,[ and in 1997, he gained particular notice for reporting that an agent of the cartel had contributed US$51,000 to Pérez Balladares' presidential campaign. When his work visa expired, the Panamanian government refused to renew it, setting off a storm of criticism from international press NGOs and domestic opposition parties. Gorriti was given shelter in the ''Prensa'' offices, and the paper managed to delay his deportation through a stay by the Panamanian Supreme Court.]
''Prensa'' publisher and editor I. Roberto Eisenmann Jr.
Ithiel Roberto Eisenmann Field Jr. is a Panamanian journalist known for founding and heading ''La Prensa'', a leading daily newspaper described as Panama's newspaper of record.
''La Prensa'' under military rule
After several years in exile in the ...
reported that the paper had discovered that the Panamanian cabinet had received news of a death threat against Gorriti; rather than relay the threat, the government had decided to expel Gorriti to preserve the nation's image.[
]Americas Watch
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
and the Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journa ...
(CPJ) issued statements in support of Gorriti, as did British novelist John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...
and Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...
.[ The US pressured Panama on Gorriti's behalf,][ and the case was also added to the docket of the ]Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des Droits de l'Homme'', ...
of the Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...
.[ The Panamanian government relented, and Gorriti's visa was later renewed.][
The government then filed criminal ]defamation
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
charges against Gorriti under the ''ley mordaza'' ("gag law"), carrying a maximum sentence of six years' imprisonment.
A second charge was filed against Gorriti and three other ''Prensa'' journalists in 1999 for an article in which he reported that a drug trafficker had donated to the campaign of Attorney General José Antonio Sossa
José Antonio Sossa is a Panamanian politician who served as Attorney General of Panama under President Mireya Moscoso.
Clashes with journalists
Sossa had several conflicts with the press, particularly the opposition newspaper ''La Prensa ''La ...
, with Sossa himself supervising the investigation.
CPJ again issued a statement in his support, stating that the case "highlight dthe need to repeal criminal defamation and libel statutes in Panama". The case was dismissed by an appeals court in 2003.
In March 2001, Pérez Balladares' former foreign minister, Ricardo Alberto Arias
Ricardo Alberto Arias (born September 11, 1940, Panama City, Panama) was the Panamanian Ambassador to the United Nations, serving from 2004 to 2009. He is also a founding member and partner of Galindo, Arias and Lopez law firm, and is a member of ...
, forced out Gorriti and was elected ''La Prensa'''s new president by a majority of shareholders. The Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journa ...
, which had awarded Gorriti its International Press Freedom Award for his work with the paper, called the election, and the resignations and demotions of investigative staff that followed, a "boardroom coup" that left "the once feisty paper a shadow of its former self".
IDL Reporteros
After leaving Panama, Gorriti returned to Peru, working for the daily newspaper ''Peru21'' as well as becoming the journalist in residence at the Instituto de Defensa Legal (IDL).
In 2009, he launched IDL-Reporteros, an experimental investigative journalism site. A nonprofit endeavor funded by NGOs, the site employed four full-time journalists as of 2011.[
]
Personal life
Gorriti is of Basque and Italian descent through his father, being distantly related to , and of Romanian Jewish descent from his mother.
He is also married with three children. He is a six-time national judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
champion.[
]
Awards and recognition
In 1986, Gorriti was given a Nieman Fellowship
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University awards multiple types of fellowships.
Nieman Fellowships for journalists
A Nieman Fellowship is an award given to journalists by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. ...
at Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, an honor awarded to mid-career journalists.[ He was awarded the Maria Moors Cabot Prize of ]Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, the world's longest-running journalism award, in 1992 for "advancement of press freedom and inter-American understanding."
In 1998, he won the International Press Freedom Award of the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journa ...
, which honors journalists who show courage in defending press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, or imprisonment.
Premio Nuevo Periodismo CEMEX+FNPI
for lifetime achievement Tribute.
*King of Spain award in 1996 for his work as director in ''La Prensa'', Panama’s then-foremost newspaper.
Books by Gorriti
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La calavera en negro
Editorial Planeta Perú. 2006. ISBN 9786123193393.
*"Latin America's internal wars". ''Journal of democracy''. Invierno de 1991, 2 (1): 85-98.
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Petroaudios
'. Lima: Planeta, 2009
References
External links
IDL Reporteros official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorriti, Gustavo
1948 births
Peruvian Jews
Peruvian people of Basque descent
Living people
Maria Moors Cabot Prize winners
People from Lima
Peruvian journalists
Male journalists
Peruvian male writers
Investigative journalists