The Colombian government denounced the shooting death of a journalist and director of a digital media outlet that investigated cases of femicide in the Colombian Caribbean region. The Minister of the Interior, Luis Fernando Velasco, expressed his rejection and deep regret for the murder of Luis Gabriel Pereira in Ciénaga de Oro, Córdoba, who had recently denounced the murders of women in that municipality.
According to the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP), on the afternoon of May 9, two men on a motorcycle intercepted the 25-year-old journalist on a road, and one of them shot him at point-blank range. Pereira was a journalist and director of the digital media Notiorense, where he revealed the name of an alleged murderer of women in Ciénaga de Oro. He was also dedicated to investigating news related to public order, security, and judicial matters.
Minister Velasco urged the judicial authorities to investigate this crime and capture those responsible. He also called for avoiding the stigmatization of journalists and recognizing the importance of their work for democracy.
The special rapporteur for freedom of expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Pedro Vaca, condemned the murder and asked that Pereira’s journalistic work be included in the investigation hypothesis.
Illegal armed groups linked to drug trafficking operate in the region where the journalist worked, in a country that is the world’s largest cocaine producer. If the murder is confirmed to be related to his reporting, Pereira would be the third journalist to be killed in the last seven months in Colombia, according to FLIP, which also noted that two other cases of journalists murdered in the same region remain unpunished.
FLIP called on President Gustavo Petro to publicly condemn the murder and take measures to prevent violence against journalists, who in 2022 suffered 218 threats. Colombia is considered the third-most dangerous country for journalists in Latin America, after Mexico and Brazil, according to Reporters Without Borders. The country has been involved in a conflict involving drug traffickers, guerrillas, and state agents that has claimed more than 9 million lives in half a century.