Bogota, October 20 (RHC)-- In Colombia, journalist and broadcaster Javier Cordoba Chaguendo was killed by a hitman while on-the-air at a community radio station in Tumaco, Nariño, on the border with Ecuador.

The Foundation for the Press Freedom (FLIP), reported this Saturday on social media that Cordoba was shot Friday night at the Planeta Stereo station, located in the Llorente neighborhood of Tumaco.

"FLIP condemns the murder of Javier Cordoba Chaguendo, a journalist who worked in Llorente, Nariño.  He was killed on Friday, October 18 ... while he was doing his music program at the Planeta Stereo station," said the foundation.

FLIP also warned about "the total absence of state" and the increase of threats against journalists in the Nariño department.  The organization demanded "immediate action by the Colombian Public Prosecutor’s Office and the police to clarify the circumstances of this murder." 

The European Union (EU) delegation in Colombia shared these sentiments and said on Twitter that it regretted "deeply the murder of Javier Cordoba Chaguendo of Planeta Stereo and the threats against journalists in Nariño."  They added that "the development of a country also depends on its right to be informed."

According to the local media, Cordoba was shot in the broadcast booth and the killer managed to escape.  In addition to his work at the station, he was a manager of musical artists in the region.

FLIP figures show that so far this year, 340 press freedoms have been violated, affecting 410 journalists.  The most serious incidents include two murders, six forced displacements, three kidnappings and one case of sexual assault.  The Interamerican Commission on Human Rights says that at least 31 journalists were assassinated in Latin America in 2018.

Tumaco, where the Cordoba's murder took place, is one of the most conflictive areas in the country, where former rebel fighters and criminal gangs are fighting over territory and their dominance over coca harvesting, cocaine trafficking, and illegal mining.