On April 23, 2009, six unidentified assailants held at
gunpoint Gustavo Álvarez Gardeazábal, host of the political program "La
Luciérnaga" on national Caracol Radio, inside his home in the western city of
A video camera from the local electrical company recorded the truck used by the assailants, reported El País. Investigators later identified it as a military vehicle. The Colombian army issued a statement saying that on the day of the attack, the truck had been used to transport a family of local peasants, according to the Colombian daily La Nación.
The journalist has been assigned police protection, El País reported. On May 4, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez offered a 20 million peso (US$10,000) reward for any information about the attack, according to news reports.