Javier Darío Arroyave

The national press played a crucial role in exposing illegal paramilitary activities and links between paramilitary leaders and leading politicians. Provincial journalists, working in areas where paramilitaries and other illegal armed groups were prevalent, faced many challenges in trying to report this and other sensitive stories. Paramilitary fighters were behind the majority of documented press freedom violations, CPJ research showed.

New York, September 5, 2007--Colombian journalist Javier Darío Arroyave was stabbed to death this morning in Cartago, a city in the western Valle del Cauca Province. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating possible links between Arroyave's murder and his journalism.

Arroyave, news director for the Cartago-based radio station Ondas del Valle and host of the news program "¿Cómo les parece?," was found dead this morning at his home in Cartago, according to press reports. The journalist, 41, had been stabbed earlier this morning, Col. Armando Burbano of the Cartago Police told CPJ. Although his laptop computer was missing, there were no signs of a forced entry, Col. Ricardo Restrepo, head of the Valle del Cauca Police, told local reporters.