Miami (February 7, 2013)—The murder of the director of a radio station in Paraguay was condemned today by the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), which called for a prompt and in-depth investigation so as to identify those responsible and learn what was the motive.
Marcelino Vázquez, owner and director of radio station Sin Fronteras 98.5 FM, was killed yesterday (February 6) in the town of Pedro Juan Caballero, capital of Amambay province on the border with Brazil. According to the local online newspaper Diario Pedro Juan Caballero (www.pedrojuandigital.com) at around 7:00 p.m. two men riding a motorcycle watched Vázquez leave the radio station and head for his home located just a few yards away. As he was about the cross the street one of the men shot him several times and the two then fled.
A son who was at the scene went to the aid of Vázquez, 54, and rushed him to a hospital, where he died from his wounds.
Vázquez was also the owner of a discotheque.
Claudio Paolillo, chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, expressed condemnation of the crime, declaring, “it is not known if the murder was connected to his work in the media.” Paolillo, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda, urged the local authorities to investigate the case promptly so as to solve it and bring those responsible to justice, as “that is the most effective way to put an end to violence and impunity.”
Also murdered in the same town on April 26, 1991 was renowned journalist Santiago Leguizamón, whose death continues to go unpunished. In 2007 the IAPA submitted the results of a journalistic investigation into the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Leguizamón was the owner and director of radio station Radio Mburucuyá and correspondent of the Asunción newspaper Noticias.
The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. For more information please go to http://www.sipiapa.org.
