Colombia

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Report to the Midyear Meeting 2023
April, 25-27
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The murder of a journalist, the siege of the press by organized crime in areas where there is a dispute for control of criminal revenues, and the insistence of the government and political sectors in feeding a dangerous narrative that stigmatizes the work of the media and journalists, are the most problematic events in this period.

On November 28, Wílder Córdoba, director of the local TV Unión channel in La Unión, Nariño department, in the southwest of the country, was murdered. He was critical of the management of the authorities of his municipality.

The stigmatizing messages and potential generators of hatred transmitted by the president, Gustavo Petro, are of concern. Between October 2022 and April 2023, the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) registered 16 stigmatizations against journalists by public officials.

In March, President Petro posted on Twitter at least 34 messages addressed to nine media outlets, with which he corrected or reproached journalists for how they covered the performance of his administration.

At the same time, Petro regretted that his "claims" give rise to "citizens with a certain level of intolerance" to send messages to the media and "firmly rejects any insinuation of violence against the press." Unfortunately, these second messages were not echoed by the first.

Although the president was receptive to FLIP's calls for attention, he resumed his stigmatizing tone and postures in his networks. FLIP asked the president to moderate his messages, given the risk of creating a "permissive" environment to "attack the press".

Opposition congressmen Miguel Polo Polo and María Fernanda Cabal also published stigmatizing messages against journalists and the media.

In November, pro-government senator Piedad Córdoba stated in parliament that "the media misinform" and proposed a debate on the historical role of the media in Colombian democracy. However, her initiative was not accepted, nor was an article in a government bill on criminal policy, which obliged the press to publish campaigns with previously reviewed contents by the State.

In December, the mayor of Cali, Jorge Iván Ospina, accused the newspaper El País of publishing "false news" in reaction to publications questioning his administration.

The Minister of Health, Carolina Corcho, said that the media were responsible for an alleged hostile environment that the health system reform bill presented by the government has encountered.

The commander of the ELN guerrilla group, Antonio García, threatened via Twitter Vicky Dávila, director of Semana, and María Alejandra Villamizar, of Caracol Noticias, for criticizing an attack on a military base in which seven soldiers and two non-commissioned officers of the Army were killed. President Petro said that "his government resolutely defends freedom of the press, one of the pillars of democracy" and condemned the threats.

In Barranquilla, a group of armed men arrived at the offices of the newspaper El Heraldo to pressure its editor to publish a previously prepared interview with the leader of one of the city's criminal gangs. Shortly before, the newspaper had received an intimidating call with the same intention. Other media in that city, such as the "Zona Cero" portal, have also been pressured to publish interviews with gang leaders under threat of attacks.

In March, journalists in Putumayo called on the High Commissioner for Peace to arrange an immediate end to threats and harassment by illegal armed groups. Faced with the siege by criminals, journalists have had to resort to self-censorship as the only means of protection. Putumayo is representative of what is happening in regions where, along with the boom in drug trafficking and illegal mining, violence by criminal gangs is on the rise.

On April 25, at the first Alternative, Community, and Digital Media meeting, the government proposed creating a new law to regulate the Information and Communication Technologies sector. Although there were no concrete indications that there are intentions to affect freedom of expression, sectors of the media and associations showed concern. They expressed that they would monitor the process.

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