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Threatened
January 26
Jorge Ramos, Univision, THREATENED
Patsy Lloyd, Univision, THREATENED
Angel Matos, Univision, THREATENED
Ramos, a newscast reporter and anchorman of the Miami-based television channel Univision; Lloyd, a producer with Univision; and cameraman Matos were threatened with death after Univision aired Ramos's interview of former Minister Fernando Botero. In the interview, Botero confessed that he knew about President Ernesto Samper's alleged acceptance of drug money for his presidential election campaign. Ramos, who normally works out of the network's headquarters in Miami and had come to Colombia to report on the political crisis triggered by the allegations against the president, fled the country fearing for his life. Matos left Colombia with Ramos; both subsequently returned.
March 16
Raul Benoit, Univision, ATTACKED, THREATENED
Benoit, a Bogota correspondent for the Miami-based television network Univision, was shot at by two unidentified gunmen while driving with his wife and children in northwestern Bogota. The assailants, on motorcycles, fired shots at Benoit's car but were greeted in return with a hail of gunfire from the journalist and his two bodyguards, whom he hired after an assassination attempt in 1990. No one in Benoit's car was injured. Prior to the attack, Benoit received death threats after filing a series of stories on the Cali drug cartel and the political crisis in Colombia. In a letter to Colombian President Ernesto Samper, CPJ urged him to issue a public statement condemning all attacks and threats against the press and to conduct an immediate investigation into the attempted assassination of Benoit.
August 20
Edison Parra, El Tiempo, THREATENED
Jaime Arias, El Tiempo, THREATENED
Reporter Parra and photographer Arias, both of whom are special correspondents for the Mocoa daily El Tiempo, in the Putumayo department, were threatened by a group of civilians, who forced them to attend a demonstration against a government campaign to prohibit coca cultivation by small-scale local producers.
August 22
Amparo Jimenez, QAP Noticias, THREATENED, HARASSED
Jose Coronado, QAP Noticias, THREATENED, HARASSED
Jimenez, a reporter, and Coronado, a cameraman, both with television station QAP Noticias, were detained by police after covering the occupation of the Hacienda Bellacruz by farm workers. They were stopped by the police in the nearby city of Pelaya and ordered to turn over their footage of the occupation. They refused and were allowed to leave, but were stopped again by members of an armed paramilitary group, who stole some of their equipment. The paramilitary group later issued death threats against the journalists. CPJ wrote to President Ernesto Samper and urged him to publicly condemn the threats against Jimenez and Coronado.
For more information contact americasweb@cpj.org