Two journalists threatened in area known for drug trade

Paraguay
This article is more than 29 years old

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

11 August 1995

2 minute read

CPJ on 10 August 1995 expressed alarm at recent death threats from members of organized crime against Candido Figueredo, the correspondent for the Asuncion daily “ABC Color” in Pedro Juan Caballero, in the department of Amambay. Figueredo has been receiving death threats for the last two weeks, all warning him to cease reporting on a […]

CPJ on 10 August 1995 expressed alarm at recent death threats
from members of organized crime against Candido Figueredo, the
correspondent for the Asuncion daily “ABC Color” in Pedro Juan
Caballero, in the department of Amambay. Figueredo has been
receiving death threats for the last two weeks, all warning him
to cease reporting on a Brazilian drug cartel which operates in
the town of Pedro Juan Caballero, on the Paraguay-Brazil border.
On 8 August, as he described earlier death threats in a live
interview with a local radio station, he received an anonymous
call in which a Portuguese-speaking male warned Figueredo that he
would be killed in the next few days.

On 9 August, an unidentified man called Mario Lesme, the regional
correspondent of the Canal 9 television network in Pedro Juan
Caballero. The caller told Lesme to stop reporting certain
stories or “he would be permanently silenced.”
Both journalists had printed and broadcast investigative reports
on the growth of the Brazilian drug cartel in the town of Pedro
Juan Caballero and had identified some of the local drug
traffickers.

Recommended Action


In light of the threats both journalists have received, send
appeals to authorities:
  • expressing deep concern for the personal safety of both
    Figueredo and Lesme
  • urging that they issue a public statement condemning the threats
    against the two reporters, and order authorities in Pedro Juan
    Caballero to provide appropriate protection for them
  • noting that any attack against these two journalists will be a
    severe blow to freedom of the press in Paraguay
  • seeking comment on the matter

    Appeals To



    
His Excellency Juan Carlos Wasmosy
    
President of the Republic of Paraguay
    
Palacio de Gobierno
    
Asuncion, Paraguay
    
Fax: +595 21 493 154, +595 21 493 622 or +595 21 442 777
    



    
Dr. Juan Carlos Araujo
    
Governor of Amambay
    
Departament of Amambay, Paraguay
    
Fax: +595 36 2173

    Please copy appeals to the originator if possible.

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