(FLIP/IFEX) – Journalist Adonai Cárdenas, a correspondent for the Calí-based daily “El País”, in Buenaventura, western Colombia, has been receiving threats since one his articles, entitled “La muerte paseo oronda por el puerto”, appeared in the daily on 2 April 2003. In the article, Cárdenas provides an overview of the tense situation in the pacific […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – Journalist Adonai Cárdenas, a correspondent for the Calí-based daily “El País”, in Buenaventura, western Colombia, has been receiving threats since one his articles, entitled “La muerte paseo oronda por el puerto”, appeared in the daily on 2 April 2003. In the article, Cárdenas provides an overview of the tense situation in the pacific coastal city.
Cárdenas has been receiving threats since 2000, sometimes over the telephone. At other times, unknown individuals have approached him and warned him to stop publishing his reports, or urged him to leave the region because his life was in danger. Armed persons have also been spotted near his house and office.
Cárdenas hosts the “Buenos días Buenaventura” programme, broadcast on the local radio station Radio Buenaventura. He also writes a column in the local daily “Marea Viva”. The journalist specialises in matters related to public security, human rights and press freedom.
Cárdenas’ 2 April article presents a panorama of the tense situation in the region since the arrival of the paramilitary United Self-Defence Groups of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC). Cárdenas wrote about the group’s link to criminal bands operating in the port and the approximately 200 murders committed in the first few months of 2003.
