(FLIP/IFEX) – On 26 November 2002, a taped message, allegedly recorded by National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberacion Nacional, ELN) guerrillas, was delivered to Radio Catatumbo station, an RCN radio network affiliate in Ocaña. In the message, the ELN urges the municipality’s media outlets to “report impartially or else face attacks,” similar to those against […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 26 November 2002, a taped message, allegedly recorded by National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberacion Nacional, ELN) guerrillas, was delivered to Radio Catatumbo station, an RCN radio network affiliate in Ocaña. In the message, the ELN urges the municipality’s media outlets to “report impartially or else face attacks,” similar to those against RCN radio and the daily “La Opinion” in Cúcuta (see IFEX alerts of 20, 19 and 15 November 2002).
Radio Catatumbo manager Agustín McGregor noted that after the tape was delivered, he received a telephone call from Commander “Raúl”, spokesperson for the Armando Cauca Guerrero and Camilo Torres ELN divisions. The guerrilla leader threatened him with consequences if he did air the tape in its entirety and communicate the ELN message to other media outlets in Ocaña and southern Cesar department. “The message accuses the media of bias and misrepresenting information,” McGregor added.
Jaime Ripoll, news director for U F.M. stereo, an affiliate of Radio Net, said the ELN had made reference to ten grievances it had with the army and stressed “the importance of freedom of expression, when what is being circulated is in fact true.” Moreover, the guerrilla group had called for “impartiality in the news because the absence of this was what led to the attacks in Cúcuta on RCN radio and the daily ‘La Opinion’.”
Background Information
On 13 November, a bomb exploded in front of the RCN radio studios. Six days later, an explosive device was found by “La Opinion”‘s offices in Cúcuta and deactivated.
A number of paramilitary groups and guerrillas of the ELN, the Popular Liberation Army (Ejército Popular de Liberacion, EPL) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) operate in the Ocaña municipality. As Ripoll explained, even though media outlets in the region had never received such a warning in the past, several local radio stations were threatened during the election campaign.
