(IPYS/IFEX) – On the night of 14 May 2002, reporter Víctor Omar Acosta passed away after being shot three times by hired assassins. The incident occurred in the city of Yumbo, department of Valle del Cauca. The local police has not dismissed any hypotheses as to the motive for the crime. As a result, even […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On the night of 14 May 2002, reporter Víctor Omar Acosta passed away after being shot three times by hired assassins. The incident occurred in the city of Yumbo, department of Valle del Cauca. The local police has not dismissed any hypotheses as to the motive for the crime. As a result, even though Acosta has not worked for any media outlet for more than two years, his family believes that the attack may have been linked to the reporter’s former investigations.
Acosta was a few metres away from his home when he was shot in the neck and right shoulder. According to his family, two men, one on foot and one on a motorcycle, used a gun with a silencer to kill Acosta. The incident occurred at approximately 4:00 p.m. (local time). Immediately afterwards, Acosta was transferred to the Evaristo García in the city of Cali, where he was pronounced dead in the operating room at 10:00 p.m.
Acosta, aged 45, was single and the oldest of four brothers. He lived with his brothers and mother. He had worked as a correspondent for a number of newspapers and radio stations. At one point, he worked as the Yumbo correspondent for a radio station based in Cali. Three years before his death, he worked with the Mayor’s Office on press matters. At the same time, he wrote for the publication “Pregon del Pacífico” and continued to be a member of the publication’s board up to a year and a half ago. A number of local journalists noted that Acosta’s own work and the type of information he distributed often focused on local corruption.
Economic difficulties forced the closure of the publication “Pregon del Pacífico” and also prevented Acosta from carrying out a community radio project he had embarked on and for which he had bought some equipment. Acosta was also a supporter of organisations like the Yumbo Labour Union.
