“'We are going to cut your head off.' That has been the strongest of the threats that Yuliana Sanchez receives at least twice a month. In October 2024 for the first time she received a call that destroyed her peace of mind: she was told that she had three days to leave San Vicente del Caguán, a municipality in the department of Caquetá [Colombia] where she works as a journalist. Since then she has not stopped being harassed by anonymous voices, who use different cell phone numbers to tell her that she has signed her death warrant or warn her of attacks on her three-year-old son. The director of the digital media outlet NoticiasColombiaTV says she does not know who is threatening her, but she suspects some of the groups of dissidents of the extinct FARC who did not look favorably on her coverage of the conflict and the peace dialogues in the municipality. Her hope is that the State will provide her with robust protection measures that will alleviate her constant panic of being murdered at any moment.
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Sanchez is not the only journalist dealing with threats and extortion in Caquetá, a department on the northern edge of the Amazon, which for years was one of the zones of influence of the extinct FARC. 'We are aware of seven journalists who have been extorted by illegal armed groups. Four live in the capital, Florencia, one in Doncello and two in San Vicente del Caguán,' the Ombudsman's Office said.”
