US denies visa to Colombian journalist to attend Harvard program [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

US denies visa to Colombian journalist to attend Harvard program
FRANK BAJAK
Associated Press Writer
10:59 p.m. EDT, July 8, 2010

http://snsimages.tribune.com.nyud.net:8090/media/photo/2010-07/54836046.jpg

In this photo taken March 24, 2010, Colombian
journalist Hollman Morris smiles while posing for the
camera in Bogota. The U.S. government recently
denied Morris a visa to attend a prestigious
fellowship at Harvard University.
(AP Photo/Revista Semana) (AP / March 24, 2010)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The U.S. government has denied a visa to a prominent Colombian journalist who specializes in conflict and human rights reporting to attend a prestigious fellowship at Harvard University. Hollman Morris, who produces an independent TV news program called "Contravia," has been highly critical of ties between illegal far-right militias and allies of outgoing President Alvaro Uribe, Washington's closest ally in Latin America.

The curator of the Nieman Foundation at Harvard, which has offered the mid-career fellowships since 1938, said Thursday that a consular official at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota told him Morris was ruled permanently ineligible for a visa under the "Terrorist activities" section of the USA Patriot Act.

U.S. Embassy and State Department officials refused to confirm the visa denial, citing privacy laws.

"We were very surprised. This has never happened before," said the Nieman curator, Bob Giles. "And Hollman has traveled previously in the United States to give speeches and receive awards." He said he had written the State Department to ask it to reconsider the decision.

Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-lt-colombia-journalist-us,0,7868341.story