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Transcript/Script Press Freedom Colombia Threat - Sandoval
HEAD: In Colombia, Journalists ‘Work With Fear’
TEASER: Coverage of guerrilla groups, politics or criminal activity can trigger threats, violence for Colombia’s media, says Foundation for Press Freedom
PUBLISHED: 12/04/2022 at 2:18 pm
BYLINE: Nicholl Sandoval
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Bogotá, Colombia
VIDEOGRAPHER: Federico Buelvas
VIDEO SOURCE (S):
PLATFORMS: (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
SCRIPT EDITORS: Kenochs, Reifenrath, TD (ok)
TRT: 2:54
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
UPDATE: For VOA Press Freedom
((INTRO))
[[An increase in threats and violence directed at Colombia’s journalists is creating fear in the media community, analysts say. Nicholl Sandoval has more from Bogota, Colombia, in this report narrated by VOA’s Cristina Caicedo Smit.]]
((NARRATOR))
So far in 2022, 177 journalists in Colombia have been threatened, according to the Foundation for Press Freedom, a nonprofit media rights group.
According to local police, on November 28, two gunmen on a motorbike killed well-known Colombian journalist Wilder Alfredo Cordoba in the town of La Union. His death and an increase in threats have created an environment of uncertainty for the country's journalists.
((Daniel Chaparro Díaz, Foundation for Press Freedom Adviser)) ((MALE/IN SPANISH))
“Journalists work every day with fear. Events connected to violence, politics, contraband — everything that has to do with a margin of illegality — are dangerous. Many times, there is no reporting on those issues because of the fear already instilled by the newspapers.”
((NARRATOR))
Sandra Buitrago, a radio reporter for ‘Arauca Stereo,' received threats for her reporting on splinter group holdouts of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a rebel group that signed a peace deal with the government in 2016.
This is not the first time that FARC dissidents have threatened the media. In March 2021, high-ranking FARC member Seuxis Pausias Hernández — a/k/a "Jesús Santrich” — sent a videotaped threat to well-known journalists and media directors Claudia Gurisatti and Vicky Dávila.
((Sandra Buitrago, Journalist)) ((FEMALE/IN SPANISH))
"I published an article about the rearming of FARC dissidents. That is the main reason I’m now receiving threats.”
((NARRATOR))
Now, Buitrago must travel in an armored vehicle, under a security plan overseen by the Colombian National Protection Unit.
Arauca is one of the most dangerous regions for reporters. According to the Foundation for Press Freedom, 22 journalists there have received threats in the past year.
(1:52—please turn his voice down under VO) ((Daniel Chaparro Diaz, Foundation for Press Freedom Adviser)) ((MALE/IN SPANISH))
“The regions that present the higher figures are Arauca and Bogotá, let's say by the dimension, the size, the number of journalists and the media. But I believe that nationally, conditions for journalists are lamentable.”
((NARRATOR))
Because most threats are anonymous, the foundation says, it is hard to identify whether they are coming from a guerrilla organization, a drug cartel, a criminal gang, a political actor or an individual.
Adding to the concerns, the foundation reports that of the more than 164 journalists killed in Colombia from 1977 to 2022, few perpetrators have been held accountable.
In only one case, all those who were found guilty were punished, and 18% of the other cases resulted in some type of conviction, the foundation says. The rest of the homicides resulted in no legal action.
((For Nicoll Sandoval in Bogota, Colombia, Cristina Caicedo Smit, VOA News. ))
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