(FLIP/IFEX) – On 9 December 2002, at 10:15 p.m. (local time), a 15 kilogramme ammonia bomb exploded in the Caracol Radio studios, in the Prados del Este neighbourhood of Cúcuta. This is the third attack on the media in Cúcuta in less than a month. The transmission antenna and signal box were damaged in the […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 9 December 2002, at 10:15 p.m. (local time), a 15 kilogramme ammonia bomb exploded in the Caracol Radio studios, in the Prados del Este neighbourhood of Cúcuta. This is the third attack on the media in Cúcuta in less than a month.
The transmission antenna and signal box were damaged in the explosion and both Caracol Radio and Radio Reloj were forced to go off the air. A few hours later, technicians managed to re-establish the Caracol Radio signal, however, Radio Reloj remains off the air. No one was injured in the attack. According to Javier Rojas, Caracol Radio manager in Cúcuta, the damages may reach 300 million pesos (approx. US$109,000).
In a 10 December telephone call to the daily “La Opinion”, the Front 33 Catatumbo Unit of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) claimed responsibility for the bombing. According to the journalist who took the call, an alleged FARC commander who identified himself as Rubén Zamora claimed that the group had carried out the attack against the Caracol transmitters because “[the stations] were playing the game of [President Alvaro] Uribe’s government and the military.” The individual also denied that the FARC was behind the two previous attacks against the press in Cúcuta.
On 13 November, a bomb exploded in front of RCN Radio. Six days later, police deactivated an explosive device that had been placed at “La Opinion”‘s office. On 26 November, in a recording sent to a radio station in Ocaña, National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberacion Nacional, ELN) guerrillas claimed responsibility for the two incidents and warned that “lack of impartiality in the news” had led to the attacks (see IFEX alerts of 29, 20, 19 and 15 November 2002).
On 10 December, Cúcuta police met with the directors of the town’s principal media outlets. According to Colonel Edgar Orlando Vale, the lack of security surrounding the broadcasting equipment and antennae facilitated the guerrillas’ actions. “Security at the different media outlets will be inspected, and specific measures will be taken, such as isolating and illuminating the equipment and installing additional security for certain installations,” the police chief said.
A serious public security situation is plaguing the Cúcuta area, a region on Colombia’s north-eastern border. The presence of three guerrilla fronts, paramilitary groups and drug traffickers has resulted in the region having one of the highest incidences of violence in the country. In November alone, according to local media statistics, more than 133 homicides took place in Cúcuta. “The media,” said Caracol Radio journalist Eduardo Blanco, “have reported on this situation, and this why attempts have been made to silence them.”
The FLIP condemned this series of attacks on the right to inform. The organisation noted that “the work of the media and of journalists is to inform – all illegal armed groups must understand this. It is essential that state security agencies provide the necessary protection measures in order to ensure that the Cúcuta media and journalists are able to carry out their work.”
