Reporters Under Fire in Colombia
Lauría, Carlos
Forty years of civil war have taken a heavy toll on Colombia's press corps. In the last decade alone, at least 30 journalists have lost their lives while attempting to carry out their work. All the...
...Under constant threat Before setting out on patrol, a fighter from the AUC paramilitary group poses with his assault weapon in Putumayo department...
...In June 2002, alleged paramilitary gunmen killed the owner of Arauca City's Radio Meridiano-70, Efrain Varela Noriega...
...Guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) opened fire when the driver of his vehicle decided to elude a rebel checkpoint near the town of Puerto Caicedo, Putumayo...
...In November 2002, Alfonso was one of some 100 names that appeared on a paramilitary death list distributed in Arauca City...
...They returned three months later, but are too afraid to report on the conflict...
...Colombia's justice system has proven incapable of solving any of these murders, thus contributing to a climate of fear and intimidation among members of the press...
...Provincial journalists are all too aware of the consequences of what they write or broadcast, resulting in widespread self-censorship...
...Following the murder, Luis Eduardo Alfonso Parada, 33, one of the station's news hosts and a freelance reporter for Colombia's most widely read daily, El Carlos Lauria is the Americas Program Coordinator of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists...
...Bravo directed the morning television program "Hechos y cifras," or Facts and Figures, and was known for his investigative reporting...
...In Bogoti and other cities, journalists are certainly targeted, but those working in the country's interior often face the greatest risks...
...Despite President Alvaro Uribe's attempts to reassert state authority in the region, the armed groups continued to perpetrate violence against journalists...
...He frequently accused municipal and departmental government officials of mishandling public funds...
...According to research conducted by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York- based international press freedom organization, at least four journalists were killed in direct reprisal for their work in 2003...
...An unidentified gunman shot the journalist in the southern town of Neiva, Huila department, before escaping on the back of a motorcycle driven by another unknown individual...
...Violent attacks have also occurred as a result of corrupt public officials, drug traffickers and organized criminals attempting to prevent the media from exposing their activities...
...In order to provide journalists with a useful tool for protecting themselves while covering the civil war, a Colombian press organization, Freedom of the Press Foundation, recently published a security manual titled "Self-Protection of Journalists...
...In the capital, the Interior Ministry's protection program provided the reporter with $320 to support himself until he returned to Arauca six weeks later...
...In places like Caquetd, Valledupar, Barrancabermeja and Cticuta, where armed groups are fighting for control over territory, violence frequently inhibits coverage of sensitive issues...
...Consequently, the armed groups will likely continue threatening, attacking, killing and censoring the press...
...In Valledupar and Cdcuta, for example, paramilitaries have forbidden journalists to print the names of people killed in the conflict...
...Journalists trying to report on controver- sial issues, such as drug trafficking, political corruption and the civil conflict, are threatened, harassed, attacked, kidnapped or killed...
...This appeared to be the case last April when Guillermo Bravo Vega, a 65year-old investigative journalist with the regional Radio Alpevisi6n, was assassinated...
...Four months later on March 18, 2003, Alfonso was gunned down by two men outside his office...
...Only days earlier, Varela had alerted lis- teners to the presence of paramilitary fighters in the region...
...The two strategies-influencing coverage and repressing coverage-are indicative of the war being waged by the armed groups for control over any infor- mation that might sway public opinion...
...Later that month, 14 journalists fled their homes and sought refuge in Bogotd after learning their names were also on death lists...
...All of these assassinations occurred in Colombia's lawless interior...
...It does not appear likely that working conditions for the Colombian media will improve in the near future as the Uribe administration is seemingly uninterested in protecting journalists, especially those working in the country's conflict zones...
...36REPORT ON MEDIA Tiempo, fled to the relative safety of BogotA...
...from rebels or paramilitaries and fearing for their lives, journalists are oftentimes forced to present a particular side of the conflict, showing the respective armed group in a favorable light...
...The northeastern Arauca department on the border with Venezuela is one of Colombia's hottest war zones with leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries fighting for control of vast oil-rich plains...
...One month later, unidentified gunmen murdered Jaime Rengifo Revero, host of a weekly program on Radio Olimpica, in the northern town of Maicao, La Guajira department...
...The hostile environment and impunity surrounding these crimes led six journalists to flee the country in 2003 and caused many others to take threats more seriously...
...All the warring fac- tions in the conflict-leftist guerrillas, right-wing para- military forces, the Colombian Armed Forces and orga- nized crime-have chosen to target journalists...
...This guide includes scenarios that Colombian journalists are likely to confront, especially in the most dangerous regions, and suggestions on how to handle risky situations...
...Jaime Conrado Juajibioy Cuarin, 24, who worked with Benavides at the station, was seriously injured in the attack...
...Rengifo frequently accused local politicians of corruption and criticized the armed forces for failing to bring security to the region...
...The militia group threatened to kill anyone on the list who didn't "reform...
...The absence of the state in vast areas of the country has left the media vulnerable to attacks from the illegal armed groups...
...On August 22, 2003, Juan Carlos Benavides Ar6valo, a 29-year-old host for the community radio station Manantial Est6reo in the town of Sibundoy, Putumayo department, was shot dead...
...These roadblocks hinder the movement of journalists and make them vulnerable to attacks and harassment...
...Guerrillas and paramilitaries routinely establish checkpoints in many regions of the country...
...In other instances, journalists are pre- vented from covering the war at all because of threats and harassment...
...The climate of fear has made accurate news coverage a growing casualty of the conflict...
...It is not only the armed groups that are targeting journalists in Colombia's interior...
...CPJ is still investigating the deaths of two others, whose murders may have been professionally related...
...According to his colleagues, Alfonso was critical of all the armed groups, but particularly the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC...
Vol. 37 • January 2004 • No. 4
