"We reject and regret the murder of Luis Gabriel Pereira, journalist and director of the digital news outlet Notiorense, in Ciénaga de Oro, Córdoba [Colombia]. The crime took place on the afternoon of May 9, in the Julio Manzur neighborhood. Two men on a motorcycle shot the journalist.
Luis Gabriel Pereira, 25, had only been working as a journalist for a few months. At the beginning of this year he launched his portal on Facebook, where he published news related to public order, security and judicial matters. According to our documentation, on his platform he frequently wrote about arrests, homicides and the increasing violence in Ciénaga de Oro. In addition to this reporting and dissemination work, he also worked as a motorcycle taxi driver.
(...)
If it is confirmed that this homicide was related to his work, he would be the third journalist murdered in the last seven months, two in this department. In the cases of Rafael Moreno (Oct. 16, 2023 in Montelíbano, Córdoba) and Wilder Córdoba (Nov. 28, 2023 in La Unión, Nariño) no concrete results are known in the investigation and identification of those responsible. Nor was there any State reaction aimed at making visible the vulnerability of these reporters. The absence of an institutional response feeds the cycles of violence against the press."
