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Colombian journalist shot dead in Coca region near Venezuela

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A Colombian journalist was shot dead in a coca-growing area near the border with Venezuela, an NGO that tracks such crimes reported on Friday.

Reporter Jorge Mendez was “attacked by armed men in the town of Tibu in the department of Norte de Santander,” the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz) said in a statement.

Mendez “was …

A Colombian journalist was shot dead in a coca-growing area near the border with Venezuela, an NGO that tracks such crimes reported on Friday.

Reporter Jorge Mendez was “attacked by armed men in the town of Tibu in the department of Norte de Santander,” the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz) said in a statement.

Mendez was “a recognized social leader, reporter and local journalist,” the NGO said.

He was killed in a region where left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries are known to operate.

Tibu is the city with the largest drug cultivation area in the world. According to the UN, over 22,000 hectares (54,000 acres) are used to grow coca, the raw material for cocaine.

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Former Tibu Mayor Nelson Leal ruled remotely for months due to threats, while the city’s prosecutor was assassinated in 2021.

The Inter-American Press Association condemned Mendez’s murder in comments on X and called for a “timely and comprehensive investigation.”

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