Miami (December 24, 2020).- The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) expressed its deepest condemnation of the murder of Colombian journalist Andrés Felipe Guevara. The organization reiterated its concern about the increase of violence against journalists in the Americas.
Guevara, of the newspaper Q'hubo, company of the newspaper El País, Cali, was the victim of an attack on December 21st in a neighborhood east of Cali. The journalist and a friend were attacked by an unknown person who shot them several times. Guevara, 27, received at least four gunshot wounds and died two days later. His companion was injured.
"We condemn another murder in Colombia, which mourns journalism, and forces us to be vigilant to the evident increase in acts of violence against journalists in our region," said Jorge Canahuati, president of the IAPA and CEO of Grupo Opsa, from San Pedro Sula, in Honduras.
The president of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Carlos Jornet, director of the newspaper La Voz del Interior, from Córdoba, Argentina, urged the authorities to "investigate expeditiously, not to rule out the hypothesis of his journalistic work and to avoid that the crime remains unsolved."
Guevara covered the judicial source for the newspaper and, according to local media and organizations, received threats.
In solidarity with Guevara's family and colleagues, Canahuati and Jornet added that the IAPA observes with great concern an increase in the climate of violence against journalists in the Americas. Including this case, 24 journalists were killed in 2020.
On August 13th, journalist Abelardo Liz, from the station Nación Nasa Estéreo, Corinto, in the department of Cauca, was also assassinated in Colombia.
IAPA is a non-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 publications from the western hemisphere; and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.
