Foundation for Press Freedom – FLIP

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 2 October 2005, journalist Enrique Camargo announced that he had received threats after reporting on the Counsel of State’s decision to annul the mayoral election in Aguachica, a municipality in southern Cesar department. On 10 December, he was threatened anew after reporting again on the same topic. On 9 December, Radio Guatapurí, […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – The monthly “El Periódico de Chía”, published in Chía, a town near the capital, Bogotá, has been subjected to a discredit campaign by Chía Mayor Fernando Sánchez Gutiérrez , who has sent the newspaper’s advertisers and readers letters criticizing the newspaper and its content. An October 2005 editorial and the publication of a […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – The following is a 30 November 2005 FLIP press release: Journalists disturbed by legal conditions imposed on presidential campaign coverage The national journalism community finds itself in a confused and tense atmosphere, now that the Constitutional Court has approved the electoral guarantees law (Ley de Garantías) legalizing and regulating consecutive presidential re-election in […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – After publishing an investigative report on payments deposited into the personal bank account of a public official, journalist Gala Marcela Peña Álvarez, of the daily newspaper “La Opinión”, in Cúcuta, the capital of the northeastern department North Santander, has been “frozen out” by mayor Ramiro Suárez Corzo. At 6:00 a.m. (local time) on […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – Diva Jessurum del Río, a journalist for RCN Televisión, has been the target of threats and harassment in recent months. In the latest incident, on 14 October 2005, two unknown individuals came to her apartment building in Bogotá. Angered by the fact that she was not home at the time, the assailants insulted […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – Pedro Luís Mogollón, director of “El Universal” newspaper, and Jacqueline Rhenals, the newspaper’s political affairs editor, recently reported that they have been receiving death threats ever since articles on the election in Cartagena appeared in the paper. The newspaper first reported on the elections on 17 August 2005. That day, Rhenals received a […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 7 October 2005, FLIP reported that Jhon Alexander Chica, a photographer for “El Tiempo Café” newspaper based in Pereira, was obstructed by a policeman when he attempted to photograph police officers assaulting a street vendor. According to the photographer, he was returning to the newspaper’s offices when he noticed that a street […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 20 September 2005, police intimidated Carlos Patiño, a photojournalist with the Cúcuta daily “La Opinión”, and prevented him from taking photographs for a news story. The incident occurred at 8:00 p.m. (local time) in the Claret neighbourhood, where police were removing a body after a judicial inspection. Patiño approached the scene to […]