(FLIP/IFEX) – On 20 February 2005, at 10:15 p.m. (local time), a car bomb exploded in front of the RCN radio and television building in Cali, capital of Valle de Cauca department, western Colombia. Radio Sucesos RCN station manager Jair Lenis told FLIP that 70 per cent of the building was destroyed. Ricardo Luna, a […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 20 February 2005, at 10:15 p.m. (local time), a car bomb exploded in front of the RCN radio and television building in Cali, capital of Valle de Cauca department, western Colombia.
Radio Sucesos RCN station manager Jair Lenis told FLIP that 70 per cent of the building was destroyed. Ricardo Luna, a Radio Calidad station operator, and Jaime Alberto Martínez, an RCN security guard, were injured in the blast. They were taken to hospital for treatment and have been discharged.
Unidentified individuals left the car, with 20 kilograms of explosives, in front of the building and fled on a motorcycle, according to RCN security guards’ statements to local media.
Lenis told FLIP that, despite the damage to the building, none of its broadcasters has had to stop transmitting.
Army Commander General Reinaldo Castellanos told local media outlets that he is holding the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) responsible for the attack. However, the authorities have not yet determined who is behind it.
Cali Mayor Apolinar Salcedo and Valle de Cauca Governor Angelino Garzón have formed a security council to evaluate recent attacks in the city and department.
This incident is not the first attack perpetrated against RCN. In 2002, FLIP reported on attacks against RCN headquarters in Cúcuta and Valledupar and, in April of that year, two rockets were fired at the RCN building in Bogotá (see IFEX alerts of 18 and 11 December and 16 April 2002).
FLIP condemns the attack on the RCN building in Cali and calls on the authorities to conduct an investigation into the incident, capture those responsible and provide security to media outlets and journalists in the city.
In a separate incident, on 19 February, photojournalist Hernando Marné Sánchez Roldán was assassinated in Tulúa, a municipality located about one hour from Cali. Sánchez Roldán, a photographer for “El País” newspaper’s society pages, was approached by an individual who shot him twice. At the time, Sánchez Roldán was on his way to take photographs in an exclusive Tulúa neighbourhood.
Diego Sánchez, Hernando Marné Sánchez Roldán’s brother, told FLIP that to his knowledge his brother had not received any threats. He said, however, that on 18 February, Sánchez Roldán was visibly agitated, although he did not mention any reason for his concern.
To date, the information gathered by FLIP has not provided indications of potential motives behind the crime. Sánchez Roldán’s family, friends and colleagues said that the photojournalist “didn’t have problems with anyone.”
Guerrilla, paramilitary and drug trafficking groups are all active in the Tulúa area. A 21 February “El País” article stated that, according to police statistics, there have been 43 assassinations in the area in 2005.
FLIP will continue to investigate the case in an attempt to determine whether Sánchez Roldán’s murder is related to his photojournalistic work.
