(FLIP/IFEX) – Journalist Claudio Gomajoa Buesaquillo, owner of La Dorada Estéreo radio station, based in La Dorada municipality, 90 km from Puerto Asís, capital of Putumayo department, southern Colombia, was forced to flee the region after receiving threats from paramilitaries. The threats appear to be connected to information the journalist broadcast on the radio station […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – Journalist Claudio Gomajoa Buesaquillo, owner of La Dorada Estéreo radio station, based in La Dorada municipality, 90 km from Puerto Asís, capital of Putumayo department, southern Colombia, was forced to flee the region after receiving threats from paramilitaries.
The threats appear to be connected to information the journalist broadcast on the radio station about a citizens’ group led by businessman José Hurtado, which was calling for the release of one of their colleagues who had been kidnapped. On 28 January, Gomajoa reported on a peaceful protest organised by Hurtado. The journalist reported on the event on La Dorada Estéreo and later reported live from the scene for Putumayo Estéreo radio station, an RCN affiliate.
Hurtado was subsequently assassinated on 11 February. The following day, during Hurtado’s funeral, Gomajoa was told by a number of people that he would be the next one to die for having reported on the protest and for having public called for the establishment of a military base in La Dorada to protect the community’s residents. The journalist told FLIP that, on 18 February, the La Dorada deputy police commander recommended that he leave the city. The journalist followed the recommendation and, as a result, the municipality’s only radio station went off the air.
In a separate incident, on the morning of 13 February, Latina Estéreo, 91.3 FM, radio station in Puerto Asís was attacked. Latina Estéreo’s owner, Gabriel Morales, told FLIP that unidentified individuals detonated explosives that knocked down the station’s antenna and damaged its equipment. Morales said he had not received threats prior to the attack, but that in the last few months the station had been reporting on rewards being offered by the army. Latina Estéreo was forced off the air as a result of the attack.
FLIP condemns the attacks suffered by the Putumayo media in 2005. The organisation calls on the authorities to investigate these freedom of expression violations and punish those responsible.
