(FLIP/IFEX) – Guillermo Bravo Vera, a journalist and director of the economic analysis programme “Hechos y Cifras”, broadcast on the Alpevisión television station, in Neiva, southwestern Colombia, was assassinated in his home on the night of 28 April 2003. “He was in the living room working on the programme when he was shot. The front […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – Guillermo Bravo Vera, a journalist and director of the economic analysis programme “Hechos y Cifras”, broadcast on the Alpevisión television station, in Neiva, southwestern Colombia, was assassinated in his home on the night of 28 April 2003.
“He was in the living room working on the programme when he was shot. The front door was open,” his son Juan Carlos said, adding that his father had received threats on a number of occasions. Most recently, Juan Carlos said, one month ago a hired assassin warned him to leave the region because he was going to be killed. According to his son, Bravo filed a complaint with the Neiva Security Administrative Department (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, DAS).
According to DAS head of intelligence Pedro Moreno, in March the journalist asked the department to keep an eye on his house because he had bought some expensive recording equipment. DAS officers patrolled near the home until Bravo notified them that the equipment had been moved and he no longer required their services. Nevertheless, Moreno said the DAS was aware of threats against the journalist because he had condemned corruption at the municipal administration.
Recently, Bravo has been investigating irregularities in connection with a contract for the distribution of alcohol. He worked as a journalist for 20 years, focusing on economic issues for “La República” daily, the newspaper “Tribuna del Sur”, the Neiva government radio station and “Eco Impacto” magazine, which published investigations on petroleum exploration. In 1980, Bravo was the recipient of the Simón Bolívar national journalism award. “We called him a ‘brave and crazy man’ because of his temperament. The way he made decisions rubbed some people the wrong way, but he was very meticulous in his work,” said Carlos Mora, a journalist for the daily “La Nación”.
Bravo had also run for mayor and town councilor in the last elections. “He had some affiliation with leftist political movements,” Mora noted.
According to Officer Moreno, the murder is connected to Bravo’s activities as a journalist. The DAS has launched an investigation to identify the responsible individuals.
