Colombia is no longer dangerous for journalists, say Colombian and Spanish experts, who were invited to speak on a forum organized by the Colombian embassy in Madrid.
Freedom of press exists in Colombia because there is an institutional system that establishes this right. The risks or threats against journalists, that do still exist, come from illegal armed groups, experts claimed Thursday in the House of America in Madrid.
The specialists, were invited by the Colombian embassy in the Spanish capital to examine "the role of journalism in the consolidation of democracy and pluralism in Colombia."
Despite the fact that journalists have denounced the Colombian government is stigmatizing and illegally shadowing critical journalists, Jaime Abello Banfi, director of the Latin-American New Journalism foundation, said that "the Government has worked to reduce attacks on journalists in the last years."
"There were no deaths of journalists in the last year and this year only one was killed," Abello added.
Colombian historian Jorge Orlando Melo said that "in Colombia it is impossible to censor a journalists but this can be punished retrospectively."
Borja Bergareche, chief of the international newspaper ABC, hopes that Colombia ceases to be the fourth country in the world with most journalists murdered. Colombia comes after Iraq, Algeria and Russia.
