By Liliana Honorato
Two radio stations were attacked with dynamite in Colquiri, Bolivia, an area rife with protests and conflicts over mining. The attacks left 23 people injured and forced the radio stations to suspend broadcasting from June 14 to 15, reported Reporters Without Borders on Tuesday, June 19. Reporters Without Borders also called for the attacks to be investigated, and for journalists to be better protected.
The attacked radio stations in Colquiri were Vanguardia, owned by the workers of the Mining Corporation of Bolivia (Comibol), and the radio station Cumbre, which belongs to the "cooperativist" miners.
According to the news outlet AFP, the reason for the attack was because the radio broadcasters were "misinforming" the public.
Although Reporters Without Borders noted that other protests have put Bolivian journalists in danger lately, the organization expressed satisfaction that the Life Insurance Act for press workers was approved May 10. The bill was initiated by the Federation of Press Workers of La Paz after the killing of two sibling journalists on Feb. 25 in the city of El Alto.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
