Francisco Castro Menco

Fundación Cultural

November 8, 1997, in Majagual, Colombia

Castro, president of the Fundación Cultural, a community foundation that ran daily radio broadcasts in the violence-ridden town of Majagual, Sucre Department, fatally shot in his home by unidentified killers. While Castro tried to make the Fundación Cultural a neutral forum for community news, it represented an independent voice in a region where both armed guerrillas and paramilitary forces are active. The foundation provided airtime for all three mayoral candidates in the October municipal elections without endorsing any. Castro, a community leader and a candidate for the departmental assembly in October, hosted a daily program on community topics and often called for an end to the violence. Local journalists believe he was murdered because of his appeals for peace but are unsure if guerrillas or the paramilitary are responsible.

Medium: Radio

Job: Publisher / Owner

Beats Covered: Human Rights, Politics

Gender: Male

Local or Foreign: Local

Freelance: No

Type of Death: Murder

Suspected Source of Fire: Paramilitary Group, Political Group

Impunity: Yes

Taken Captive: No

Tortured: No

Threatened: No