Violence against journalists in Colombia has escalated recently, with paramilitary groups issuing threats against reporters all over the country. The threats are worrisome for a country, where drug traffickers, corrupt politicians, leftist guerrillas and paramilitary groups killed 43 journalists since 1992. For that reason, the Colombian Federation for Journalists, FELCOPER, will hold a silent march on 3 May to mark International Press Freedom Day.

The paramilitary group, Grupo Bloque Capital de las Águilas Negras, has become the worst press freedom offender.  It recently issued threats against 28 reporters from the capital city of Bogota and other provincial towns.

Worse yet, is the fact that the Colombian Attorney General´s office just announced that it was shelving investigations on murders of journalists that occurred in the 1990s. One case is that of two journalists from El Universal, Julio Daniel Chaparro, 29, and Jorge Torres, 39. The two were killed by unknown men while reporting on the anniversary of a human rights massacre in the town of Segovia, Medellin. That massacre was completed by paramilitaries in 1988, but Chaparro and Torres were killed by guerrillas who later died in combat themselves.