By Ingrid Bachmann
A man on a motorcycle shot five times at journalist Marco Tulio Valencia who was on his way to his home in Mariquita the night of Aug. 30, reported El Nuevo Día. The bullets hit a wall and window, but Valencia was uninjured.
According to the Colombian Federation of Journalists, Valencia, editor of the newspaper El Norte and director of a regional television channel had received threatening phone calls and fake obituaries warning him to leave the city, explained EFE. The journalist has denounced drug traffickers, who are assumed to be behind the attack and threats.
In an interview with RCN Radio, Valencia said the hitman followed him to his house, but at the moment he fired, the motorcycle suddenly stalled, allowing Valencia to go inside and avoid the bullets. "It's a miracle I'm alive," the journalist said.
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.
