(FLIP/IFEX) – Gimbler Perdomo Zamora, aged 32, manager of Panorama Stereo radio station and a former town councillor, was assassinated on 1 December 2002. The murder took place at approximately 10:00 p.m. (local time), in Gigante, a municipality located 72 kilometres from Neiva, capital of Huila department, in southwestern Colombia. Perdomo and his wife, Sandra […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – Gimbler Perdomo Zamora, aged 32, manager of Panorama Stereo radio station and a former town councillor, was assassinated on 1 December 2002.
The murder took place at approximately 10:00 p.m. (local time), in Gigante, a municipality located 72 kilometres from Neiva, capital of Huila department, in southwestern Colombia. Perdomo and his wife, Sandra Jinet Cáceres Cruz, were on their way home from the “La Casona” hotel when they were stopped on the street by two individuals on a motorcycle, apparently identified as a man and a woman. According to the Gigante authorities, the assailants fired seven shots at the couple. Perdomo died instantly and his wife was injured in the attack.
Perdomo was the owner and manager of Panorama Stereo, the only radio station in Gigante, and had been the station’s news director since 26 July. He reported on the news twice daily and in the morning opened up the airwaves to his audience. The information he broadcast was obtained from other media outlets and often dealt with matters of importance to the community. According to the town’s residents, the radio station organised campaigns to raise funds for disadvantaged individuals.
Humberto Sosa, who had been working with Perdomo for the last four months, noted that Víctor Manuel Beltrán Molina is also involved in Panorama Stereo. Beltrán Molina is the brother of former liberal representative Orlando Beltrán Cuellar, who was kidnapped by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) guerrillas on 21 August 2001 and is still being kept captive.
Although Perdomo had been Panorama Stereo’s manager since the launch of the station in July 1999, he had mostly been involved in politics. He was elected Gigante town councillor three times, most recently in October 1999. At that time, he did not take up the post because he wanted to dedicate his time to the radio station, Sosa noted.
Perdomo was also a businessman. He had been contracted by the Gigante Mayor’s Office to purchase computers and construction materials. He also managed “La Casona” hotel.
The police have no information on the motive for the murder or those responsible for committing it. According to Lieutenant Mauricio Jiménez, chief of police in Gigante, and individuals close to Perdomo, the radio station manager had not reported receiving any threats.
It is not clear if the assassination was related to Perdomo’s work as a journalist. FLIP will keep abreast of the investigation to determine if the murder was an attack on press freedom.
Background Information
Gigante is a municipality in western Huila with approximately 25,000 inhabitants. In June, the local authorities, including the mayor and town councillors, were forced to resign after being threatened by the FARC. There are no representatives of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the town and the mayor carries out his functions from Neiva, the department’s capital. The FARC’s Teofilo Forero division is active in the region and, according to the police, illegal paramilitary groups have also recently began operating in the vicinity.
