The media Channel 2 of Colombia, publicly denounced that journalists and administrative staff working for the company have been subject to constant threats and acts of intimidation in recent weeks, for which reason they have appealed to the authorities.
This was reported by the allied media of Península 360 Press through a statement where it specifies that the last act of intimidation occurred just last Friday, September 2.
The Valle del Cauca media outlet details that journalists Jhonatan Buitrago, Juan David Acevedo, Liliana Andrea Valencia and Isabel Cortés, received text messages from the same sender where they declared them military target.
"You think you have grabbed the sky with both hands and you are going to continue doing what you want, you do not know what awaits you as a military objective," the message received states.
The letter details that, minutes later, Liliana Valencia, manager of Channel 2, was threatened by a distorted voice from a "private number" and through a call.
They added that on August 16, journalist Jhonatan Buitrago was harassed and intimidated by five men on different high-powered motorcycles while he was traveling in his vehicle assigned by the National Protection Unit (UNP) of Colombia.
In that situation, they said, the subjects said: "Stop it, son of a bitch, stop it," referring to the vehicle, however, and thanks to the timely reaction of the protection men, the journalist managed to escape unharmed from that situation.
Similarly, on August 24, Liliana Valencia was the victim of stalking and harassment by a vehicle with fully tinted windows, which was located outside her home and subsequently followed her to the Canal 2 facilities.
In the face of such cowardly actions, the media outlet called on the authorities to find those responsible for such acts.
"We call on the Attorney General's Office and the Police to find the whereabouts of those who threaten us and we are bringing to light the situation in order to safeguard the lives and integrity of our staff. We urge the international community and multilateral organizations to denounce the situation that Channel 2 has been going through since the social unrest began."
"The last threat we received was on Friday, September 2, where we were declared a military target in an intimidating and threatening text message. It reached the journalists and administrators of Channel 2, and later the channel manager received a call from a private number declaring us a military target," said María Isabel Cortés Libreros in an interview for
It should be noted that the threats were made following the protests of the National Strike, in which the director of the news outlet, together with his journalistic team, reported everything that happened from different gathering points.
In an interview with another media outlet, journalist María Isabel Cortés said she had experienced a very distressing moment when she received a floral arrangement with her name and a card of condolences for her family.
"I had been receiving threats supposedly from the ELN. On July 14, I was decorating the house to celebrate my birthday. My daughter looked out the window and saw that a floral arrangement had arrived. When I went down to receive it, I realized that it was a funeral floral arrangement with a card of condolences for my husband, my daughter, and my son with my names," she stressed.
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