MAY 24, 2007
Orlando Rucana Cuba, Radio Melodía and Radio Alegría
Manuel Caballero Vidal, Canal 13 TV
THREATENED
Rucana, director of the daily news programs on Radio Melodía and Radio Alegría, told CPJ that he received a text message on May 24 threatening him and a colleague with death.
According to Rucana, the message came from an undisclosed number. It said that he and his colleague, Caballero, host of the daily news program “Primera Edición” on local Canal 13 TV, would “disappear” after they had been “squashed like cockroaches.” Rucana said neither he nor Caballero had received any threats since.
Rucana told CPJ that he was not sure what coverage could have sparked the threats. He said he and Caballero covered a violent protest against the local mayor’s change in education policies in the provincial capital, Huaraz, on May 23.
Freddy Valenzuela, Áncash representative for the local press freedom group Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS), filed a complaint to local authorities, Rucana told CPJ.