The Foundation for Press Freedom (Flip) and the Ombudsman’s Office have issued alerts regarding the disappearance and reported murder of journalist Mateo Pérez Rueda in the rural region of Briceño, Antioquia.
Pérez Rueda, a student at the Universidad Nacional and director of the magazine El Confidente, disappeared on May 5. He had traveled to the jurisdiction of vereda Travesías to document a severe humanitarian crisis caused by illegal armed groups fighting for territorial control. According to preliminary reports shared by Flip, the journalist was allegedly killed by members of the FARC dissident group Frente 36.
Local accounts indicate that Pérez Rueda had sought routes to enter the rural areas of Briceño, specifically vereda El Palmichal, where clashes between the National Army and dissident groups had recently occurred. Although officials from the Mayor’s Office of Briceño reportedly warned him of the risks and suggested he stay away from the territory, the journalist continued into the zone. Preliminary reports suggest he was detained in vereda El Hoyo by members of Frente 36, where he was allegedly tortured and murdered in front of the local community.
The Ombudsman, Iris Marín, stated on Thursday that there was still no confirmed news regarding the journalist’s status, as access to the area is nearly impossible due to the presence of armed organizations. Marín expressed solidarity with Pérez Rueda’s family and requested that the High Commissioner for Peace, Otty Patiño, ask the FARC dissidents to provide humanitarian guarantees so the family can receive clear information about his whereabouts.
The Governor of Antioquia, Andrés Julián Rendón, identified “alias Chalá”—the successor to “alias Primo Gay” as the leader of GAO-r 36 in the area—as the person responsible for the crime. “The criminal of Calarcá now sends assassins like Chalá, from Cauca, to kill journalists in Antioquia,” Rendón stated, announcing a reward of 300 million pesos for the capture of the suspect. The governor further urged the Ministry of Defense to take “decisive operative action” through “bombings, territorial control and judicial effort.”
The killing of Pérez Rueda highlights the volatile security situation in northern and northeastern Antioquia, where illegal groups have established operational enclaves that are difficult for authorities to access. In Briceño specifically, territorial disputes between FARC dissidents and the ‘clan del Golfo’ have led to significant humanitarian decline. In October 2025, clashes between these two groups displaced more than 2,000 people from at least ten districts in rural Briceño.
The National Army has maintained a permanent offensive in the area to combat these structures, though strategic drug trafficking routes continue to sustain the presence of illegal groups. Recent military results in Briceño include the deactivation of 16 explosive devices—installed by both Frente 36 and the ‘clan del Golfo’—and the discovery of three illegal depots and three coca paste laboratories belonging to GAO-r 36. An operation on March 16 targeted the leader “Primo Gay”; while he escaped after being wounded, the Army captured his girlfriend and his head of escorts in vereda La Palestina.
As a possible next step, the Ombudsman’s Office and the Colombian Red Cross are coordinating a humanitarian mission, supported by the National Army, which may enter the rural areas of Briceño to recover the body of the journalist.
