Andrés Ramírez was harassed by a local resident who prevented him from carrying out his work and threatened him with a firearm.
(Fundamedios/IFEX) – On 16 November 2010, camera operator Andrés Ramírez, of the TV station San Lorenzo TV, was harassed by a local resident in a community in the Esmeraldas region (located 318 km north of Quito, on the border with Colombia) who prevented him from covering an incident and threatened him with a firearm.
Ramírez told Fundamedios that this happened in the afternoon while he was covering a roadblock by residents of San Agustín. One of them forbade the journalist from filming while he was walking among their houses. When Ramírez continued working, the man insulted him and took out a firearm, threatening to shoot him if he did not leave.
Ramírez commented that he had no choice but to leave the area. Fifteen minutes later there was a confrontation between the locals and the police, who were attempting to clear the road that runs through the area.
