"If you want to kill me, kill me. But I tell you right off the bat, you won't silence me." On the night of Sunday, October 16, 2022, Rafael Moreno was shot dead in a grocery store in Montelibano, northern Colombia. A journalist, he was director of the online media Voces de Córdoba, in which he regularly denounced local corruption, activities of illegal armed groups and embezzlement.
In September, a month before his death, Rafael Moreno denounced the withdrawal by the Colombian state of the protection system he had enjoyed after being threatened. In particular, the journalist was investigating the installation of a "quarry" on the property of a senator himself, from which, according to him, materials for the construction of public works were extracted.
Corruption, embezzlement...
Before he was murdered, Moreno had been in contact with Forbidden Stories, an international consortium of investigative journalists that offers threatened colleagues to protect their documents. He had shared the threats he received on a daily basis and had decided to share all the investigations he was working on. With one objective: that if anything ever happened to him, his work could be continued.
For six months, a group of thirty journalists, coordinated by Forbidden Stories, took over from Rafael Moreno's investigations. France 24 and RFI joined this international consortium. The result of their work will be released starting Tuesday, April 18, at 18 p.m.
A team of France 24 visited the Cordoba region as part of the "Rafael project". The channel will broadcast on Wednesday, April 19, an exclusive report on mining in the Cordoba region - one of Rafael Moreno's main subjects of investigation, then Friday, April 21, a portrait of the journalist, through the eyes of his bereaved family, and his relatives who intend to continue his mission.
Throughout the week, France 24 will also receive guests to talk about the investigations carried out as part of this "Rafael project", threats against the press in Colombia and the work of Forbidden Stories.
The summary of the week France 24 invites you to look back on the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news with you everywhere! Download the France 24 app