Letter bomb sent to home of Colombian journalist

Letter bomb sent to home of Colombian journalist

Bogotá, Colombia, March 11, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Colombian authorities to investigate an attack on a journalist who had denounced political corruption and the activities of leftist guerrilla groups in the region. Juan David Betancur received a letter bomb in the mail on Thursday that failed to explode and did not injure him, according to news reports.


Betancur, 34, told CPJ that he received a manila envelope at his house in the town of Dabeiba, in the state of Antioquia, which contained detonators and a small amount of explosive materials. Also enclosed was a letter warning Betancur not to delve into issues of government corruption or the activities of a former member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a guerrilla group known as the FARC, Betancur said.

"I called the police. They gave the letter to the anti-explosives unit of the army that detonated the materials in a controlled explosion," the journalist told CPJ. He said the police later told him that he would have been blinded or severely injured had the letter exploded upon being opened.

Betancur is the director of a Dabeiba-based monthly called El Panamericano. He also reports for two Antioquia radio stations, Radio Litoral, based in the town of Turbo, and Radio La Ribereño, in the town of Puerto Berrío.

More:
http://www.cpj.org/2013/03/letter-bomb-sent-to-home-of-colombian-journalist.php