Colombia's state: more than twice as aggressive against press than all narcos and guerrillas combine

[Judi Lynn]

by Emily Hart February 14, 2019

Colombia’s state officials carried out more attacks on media workers than anyone else in 2018, according to press freedom group FLIP.

State officials, including politicians, committed 145 of 477 violations against the press in a record year for violence against the media.

This made the state more than twice as aggressive against media workers than the country’s narcos, guerrillas and paramilitaries combined.

Emmanuel Vargas, one of the FLIP’s investigators, told Colombia Reports that these state attacks are particularly worrisome, not only because the state is supposed to defend the freedom of press, but “some supporters or other public servers may see attacks as a permission or invitation to perpetrate other attacks.”

More:
https://colombiareports.com/colombias-state-more-than-twice-as-aggressive-against-the-press-than-all-narcos-and-guerrillas-combined/

(Encouraging political supporters to attack journalists is the intention here, as well, as reflected a couple of nights ago when a supporter at an El Paso Trump rally physically assaulted a BBC journalist.)