A man posing as a delivery person entered Aguilar’s home in southwestern
a package of photos to deliver, according to Ovidio Hoyos, director of the
Popayán-based Radio Súper, where Aguilar worked. Once inside, the assailant
shot Aguilar three times and fled. The journalist died at the scene, Hoyos told
CPJ.
Aguilar, 72, was a correspondent for Radio Súper in the
southern city of
He also hosted a daily news program on the community radio station Bolívar
Estéreo, Hoyos said. The journalist had reported for Radio Súper for 10 years
and was known for his harsh criticism of corruption and links between local
politicians and right-wing paramilitaries, according to CPJ interviews and
local news reports. A 30-year veteran, he had also reported for national
Caracol Radio and RCN.
Martín Aguilar, the journalist’s son, told CPJ that his
father had received death threats two years ago, but he did not know of any
recent ones. Hoyos said Aguilar had not relayed any threats to him.
Local and national authorities were investigating, Col. Luis
Joaquín Camacho, commander of the
told CPJ. On July 10, 2009, the Colombian National Police arrested Arley Manquillo
Rivera, also known as “El Huracán,” at a routine checkpoint outside the
provincial capital, Popayán, based on witness descriptions of the assailant,
according to an official police statement. Authorities believed Manquillo, who
has alleged ties to the local drug trafficking gang Los Rastrojos, was hired to
kill the journalist, a police spokesman told CPJ. Investigators were looking
into Aguilar’s reporting on local and provincial government corruption as motive for the murder.
Manquillo denied involvement in the killing and claimed he was at a meeting at the time of the murder. In November 2009, a judge ordered Manquillo freed, new reports said.