Journalist, press freedom advocate Cristian Herrera Nariño killed in northern Colombia

Bogotá, June 8, 2026—Colombian authorities must swiftly investigate the killing of journalist and press freedom advocate Cristian Herrera Nariño, determine if he was targeted for his work, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.

On Saturday, June 6, gunmen on a motorcycle shot Herrera outside his home in the northwest city of Cúcuta on Colombia’s border with Venezuela. Security camera footage shows Herrera standing next to a parked vehicle then collapsing on the pavement. He was pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital, according to news reports.

“This is the second journalist to be killed in Colombia in a month. Clearly, the government is not providing journalists with even the most basic safety measures,” said Cristina Zahar, Latin America program coordinator, in São Paulo. “CPJ calls on the authorities to bring both Cristian Herrera’s and Mateo Pérez Rueda’s killers to justice.”

Herrera was editor of the online news outlets Cúcuta al Rojo Vivo and Cúcuta Real and often reported on government corruption and criminal groups involved in extortion, kidnappings, drug trafficking and human smuggling in the border area. Herrera was also a board member of the Bogotá-based Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) and worked as a part-time security consultant for the Cúcuta mayor. 

Following death threats stemming from his reporting, Herrera briefly fled to Chile in 2004. He returned to Cúcuta and since 2014 had received at least 17 death threats, prompting the government’s National Protection Service to provide him with bodyguards, FLIP executive director Sofía Jaramillo told Caracol Noticias. But she said none of the threats were adequately investigated by judicial authorities.

“This crime undermines press freedom by silencing a critical regional voice. Moreover, it has a serious impact on FLIP by depriving it of one of its members…and by placing at risk—and intimidating—the organization’s work in defending the rights of journalists,” FLIP said in a June 6 statement.

Cúcuta police chief Col. Fabio Ojeda announced a 100 million pesos (USD $28,270) reward for information leading to the capture of the gunmen and masterminds behind Herrera’s death. The National Protection Unit said that, at the request of Herrera, his bodyguards were not with him when the journalist was killed. CPJ’s text messages to the press department of the Attorney General’s office, which is investigating the crime, went unanswered.