Journalist Cristian Herrera shot dead in Cúcuta, Norte de Santander
The 48-year-old communicator was shot by a hitman on a motorcycle in the Quinta Oriental neighbourhood. He is the second journalist murdered in Colombia in less than a month.
Journalist Cristian Herrera killed by gunfire in Cúcuta
Colombian journalist Cristian Herrera, communications adviser to the Cúcuta Security Secretariat, was shot dead on Saturday in the capital of the department of Norte de Santander, which borders Venezuela. According to eluniverso.com, Herrera was 48 years old and had just stepped out of a vehicle in the company of other people in the Quinta Oriental neighbourhood when a man on a motorcycle shot him and fled.
The Cúcuta Metropolitan Police immediately activated an operation to locate the hitman and establish the motives for the crime.
The mayor of Cúcuta, Jorge Enrique Acevedo, posted a message on social media expressing his condolences and condemning the attack. "Freedom of the press cannot be intimidated or silenced," Acevedo wrote.
Herrera had been a member of the newspaper La Opinión for several years, the most important print media outlet in Norte de Santander, where he stood out for his journalistic rigour. He also worked as a correspondent in the region for the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) and was a member of its Board of Directors.
The Ombudsman's Office expressed indignation at the murder in a statement and noted that Herrera "dedicated his work to reporting on issues related to impunity, organised crime, corruption and the situation in Catatumbo". The entity also indicated that the journalist "had protection measures from the National Protection Unit (UNP), which failed to prevent his murder", and described the crime as a direct consequence "of his journalistic work".
The Ombudsman's Office linked this case to the murder of journalist Mateo Pérez Rueda, which occurred last month in Briceño, in the department of Antioquia. "In less than a month, the country has lost two voices of regional journalism in contexts marked by violence and the presence of illegal armed groups," the institution warned.
"The murder of a journalist is one of the most serious forms of censorship. It generates fear, encourages self-censorship and affects the right of communities to receive information about what is happening in their territories," the Ombudsman's Office said in its statement.
This is not the first time Cúcuta has registered a crime of this kind: on 14 April 2024, journalist Jaime Vásquez was murdered in the same city, who covered matters of local governance and reported on cases of corruption.
Source: Google News CO — Crime