Disappeared Journalist Alaíde Foppa

The family of Alaíde Foppa, along with CERIGUA and other organisations, are calling on the Guatemalan Supreme Court of Justice to demand that authorities launch an inquiry into who disappeared Guatemalan journalist and writer Alaíde Foppa. Foppa was kidnapped in December 1980 and has been missing since then.

Alaíde Foppa is a Guatemalan poet, journalist, academic and women's rights activist. She lived in Mexico for many years, having fled there with her life partner, Alfonso Solórzano Fernández, who was wanted by the Guatemalan authorities. On 19 December 1980, soon after Foppa returned to Guatemala, she was detained and then "disappeared" by the State security forces.

CERIGUA recalls that at the time, Guatemala was living under one of the worst dictatorships, which resulted in thousands of disappearances and extrajudicial executions. As such, it is possible that individuals linked to powerful interests may have been behind Foppa's disappearance.

Foppa was abducted near the Placita Quemada craft market in Zone 1, Guatemala City. The journalist was in a vehicle owned by her mother, Julia Falla, which was being driven by Leocadio Ajtún Shiroy. The chauffeur also disappeared that day.

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