A FATAL BATTLE WORSENS IN COLOMBIA: THE WAR ON JOURNALISTS

BOGOTA, Colombia, July 11 -- Oscar Vasquez had warned his brother, the news
director of a radio station in a violent town, Florencia, to tone down his
reporting. But the newscaster, Jose Dubiel Vasquez, continued disseminating
news about local corruption and the conflict between rebels and
paramilitary groups.

On Friday, Mr. Vasquez paid the price, colleagues and relatives said. As he
drove home with a fellow reporter after the morning broadcast, a gunman
stepped up to Mr. Vasquez's car and shot three bullets into his head. He
died immediately, becoming the second news director from Caracol Radio to
be gunned down since December.

Mr. Vasquez was the sixth Colombian journalist slain this year. One was
shot to death two days later, the fourth in 12 days, according to the
Committee to Protect Journalists in New York. In all of last year, seven
journalists were killed, at least three as reprisals for their work, the
committee said.

"I would say, 'Man, do not denounce so many things,' " Oscar Vasquez said.
"This place does not place any value on life. But he would say: 'This is
journalism. You have to criticize. You have to denounce the criminals and
the crisis.' "

Colombia has long been one of the most dangerous countries in the world for
journalists. In the drug kingpins' reign of terror in the late 1980's,
journalists were frequently killed; a major newspaper was bombed, shocking
even this country.

Nowadays, journalists' killings receive little attention. But the
journalists' committee said that with 34 slayings in the last decade,
Colombia is by far the most dangerous country in Latin America for
journalists. Worldwide, Russia and Algeria have recorded more killings.

Press freedoms are being attacked as Colombia suffers a wave of political
violence. Armed groups -- mostly right-wing death squads, rights groups say
- -- focus on labor advocates, professors, student leaders and human rights
workers.

"The parties in the conflict care a great deal about how they are portrayed
in the media," said Marylene Smeets, who overseas the committee's research
in Latin America. "So the parties in the conflict are willing to force
journalists to spread their word. They are also punishing those journalists
who don't give out the message they would like to give out."

Many of those killed here in distant provincial towns, where the state
presence is weak and criminal networks rule. Florencia lies outside a
rebel-held zone in the south and is the base for right-wing paramilitary
gunmen.

"We can't expect to be far from the conflict when we're in a hot zone like
Florencia," said Freddy Diaz, who worked with Mr. Vasquez. "Because this is
a small city, everyone knows who the journalists are, where they live,
where they work."

Although rights groups say paramilitary groups are most responsible for the
journalists' deaths, the rebels have also killed reporters. Yet in most of
the killings, as in Mr. Vasquez's case it remains unclear exactly who is
responsible.

A decade ago, Ms. Smeets noted, drug cartels were most responsible for
killing reporters. Now, she said, "it's much harder to point a finger."

Jose Vasquez had reported on municipal bribery and irregularities in the
provincial government. "He was a person who was born for journalism," his
brother said. Jose Vasquez, 47, is survived by his wife and three children.