(FLIP/IFEX) – Radio announcer José Nel Muñoz was reportedly killed on 5 October 2003, two kilometres from the settlement of Puerto Libertad in Putumayo department, in southern Colombia. Muñoz’s body was retrieved by his wife and five journalists from the area, who said that there were indications that he had been tortured and shot three […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – Radio announcer José Nel Muñoz was reportedly killed on 5 October 2003, two kilometres from the settlement of Puerto Libertad in Putumayo department, in southern Colombia. Muñoz’s body was retrieved by his wife and five journalists from the area, who said that there were indications that he had been tortured and shot three times.
Muñoz had been working for Latina Estéreo radio station in Puerto Asís for more than a year, hosting music and community information programmes. He also occassionally covered news about the armed conflict and political issues. In Puerto Asís, however, he was better known for his work as an announcer and events host.
On 4 October, Muñoz went to Puerto Libertad to host an event. His wife, Diteli Portillo, said she expected the journalist to come back the following day, but neither Muñoz nor the sound technician who had accompanied him to the event returned. On 5 October, she began to search for him together with a group of journalists.
“There was a huge gap between the last time they saw him at midnight and when we found his body,” said Jesús Bernal, a journalist for Colombianísima Estéreo radio station. Muñoz’s wife told FLIP that the community was silent with respect to what had happened. “We arrived at the community and they told us they would only go with us to where the body was located,” she said. The group retrieved the corpse and returned to Puerto Asís. The journalists added that it appears that the person who had accompanied Muñoz managed to escape, but his whereabouts are unknown.
Based on the area where Muñoz was murdered and information disseminated by several media outlets, it appears that the journalist was killed by members of the 48th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC). According to journalists in the region, Muñoz had never received threats.
FLIP has not been able to determine the circumstances and motives for Muñoz’s assassination but will continue investigating the case to establish with more certainty whether there is a link between the journalist’s work and his murder.
