Mateo Pérez Rueda, 25, the founder and director of the online news site El Confidente, was shot and killed by guerrillas in northwest Colombia on May 5, 2026, according to Colombian authorities.
Pérez was last seen at around 4 p.m. on May 5 near the town of Briceño in Antioquia department where he was detained at a roadblock by members of a guerrilla group that controls much of the zone, Natalia López of the Bogotá-based Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) told CPJ. His body was recovered from rebel-controlled territory on May 8 by a humanitarian commission that included members of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
López said the journalist had traveled to Briceño to cover the impact on civilians of combat between the Colombian army and the 36th Front, which is a faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that re-armed following a 2016 peace treaty that demobilized most FARC fighters.
Briceño security secretary William Londoño told Bogotá-based Caracol Noticias that he had advised Pérez not to travel to the town because the area is so dangerous but that the journalist ignored his warning. Pérez went missing for three days because the rebels, who are reported to be involved in cocaine trafficking and illegal goldmining, initially refused to allow humanitarian groups to enter the zone to search for him.
Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez announced rewards totaling $940 million pesos ($252,000 USD) for the capture of Neider Yesid Uñates López and John Edison Chalá Torrejano, two rebel leaders of the 36th Front. Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on social media that Chalá had killed Pérez.