Updated: March 29, 2007
Original Case: September 17, 2004
Mauro Marcano, Radio Maturín, El Oriental
KILLED
On March 5, Venezuelan authorities arrested Ceferino García, believed to be the mastermind behind Marcano’s death, and accused him of premeditated murder, reported the local press. García is being held in Pica prison in the northern Monagas province.
García, a known drug trafficker, had been detained on August 30 2006 in Trinidad and Tobago. He was deported to Venezuela on March 3, reported El Correo del Caroní. According to press reports, authorities issued arrest warrants in 2005 for five others who were believed to have participated in Marcano’s murder, but none have been arrested.
Marcano, a radio host and columnist, was shot dead by unidentified attackers on September 1, 2004, in his apartment building’s parking lot in the Monagas capital of Maturín. Marcano hosted the daily radio show “De frente con el pueblo” (Facing the People) on Radio Maturín, and wrote the weekly column “Sin bozal” (Without Muzzle) for the Maturín-based daily El Oriental. According to colleagues, Marcano aggressively denounced drug trafficking and police corruption in the area. At the time of his murder, he was also a municipal councilman for the regional political movement