(IPYS/IFEX) – On 11 November 2003, journalist Zully Esther Codina was assassinated in the city of Santa Marta, in Magdalena department. The 49-year-old journalist hosted the “Entérese” opinion programme, broadcast every Saturday on Radio Rodadero Todelar. During the week, she worked at the Julio Méndez Barreneche central hospital in Santa Marta. At approximatly 7:30 a.m. […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 11 November 2003, journalist Zully Esther Codina was assassinated in the city of Santa Marta, in Magdalena department. The 49-year-old journalist hosted the “Entérese” opinion programme, broadcast every Saturday on Radio Rodadero Todelar. During the week, she worked at the Julio Méndez Barreneche central hospital in Santa Marta.
At approximatly 7:30 a.m. (local time) on 11 November, the journalist was waiting for public transit near her house when two men approached her and shot her in the head four times.
Codina had 27 years of experience working for media outlets and had been hosting “Entérese” for the last two years. Until last year, the programme was broadcast by Radio Galeón. Mayito Uyueca, who worked with Codina on the programme, told IPYS that she was perturbed since they did not report on any information that could put them at risk. “We interviewed people about current events. [Entérese] is a cultural and social affairs programme,” she said.
Some national media outlets have speculated that Codina may have been assassinated because of her union activities. However, Amarilis de Luque, a member of the hospital union, said Codina had resigned from the union leadership last year and was now only an associate member. “She was the treasurer and was always very conciliatory,” de Luque said.
According to Codina’s husband of 17 years, Rafael Sánchez, the journalist had never talked about feeling threatened or having received threats. She is survived by two sons, who are 12 and 10 years old.
