He chose to go anyway, and he paid for that choice with his life.
In the mountains of northern Antioquia, a 25-year-old journalist named Mateo Pérez Rueda rode his motorcycle into territory where the state had long ceded authority to armed men, and did not return. His death in early May 2026 is both a singular human tragedy and a symptom of a deeper contradiction: a government simultaneously negotiating peace with the very structures that killed him. In a country where press freedom has eroded under the weight of 387 documented attacks since 2022, Mateo's story asks an ancient and unanswered question — how much truth is a society willing to pay for?
- A young journalist disappeared on May 5 after riding alone into conflict-controlled rural Antioquia, ignoring warnings from neighbors, officials, and local residents who refused to accompany him.
- His body was recovered only through negotiations between criminal organizations and humanitarian groups — his own family barred from entering the zone to claim him.
- The alleged killer belongs to a faction led by a guerrilla commander currently seated at the government's own peace negotiating table, exposing a direct contradiction at the heart of President Petro's Total Peace policy.
- A reward of 300 million pesos was offered by the Defense Minister, but no arrest followed — leaving the case suspended in the same impunity that defines most violence against journalists in Colombia.
- Press freedom organizations report 387 attacks on journalists by armed groups since 2022, and reporters in Antioquia are now quietly weighing whether to continue their work at all.
Mateo Pérez Rueda was a journalism student at the National University in Medellín, but he was also something more: the founder of El Confidente de Yarumal, a digital outlet that had become a rare steady voice reporting on organized crime and armed group activity in northern Antioquia. He had already absorbed legal threats and hostile acts for that work. On May 5, he rode his motorcycle into the rural hamlet of Palmichal. His belongings were found abandoned. He was not.
Within days, authorities confirmed his death. President Gustavo Petro identified the alleged killer as a member of the Darío Gutiérrez front, a splinter group descended from the former FARC's 36th Front. The recovery of Mateo's body required negotiations between criminal organizations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. His family was not allowed into the zone.
The killing carried a painful political irony. The criminal structure allegedly responsible operates under a commander known as Calarcá Córdoba — a guerrilla figure currently participating in Petro's Total Peace negotiations, whose arrest warrant the government had suspended to keep him at the table. Mateo was murdered for documenting armed group activity while the state was simultaneously bargaining with the men who ordered his death.
Before he left, people warned him. Local residents, officials, and neighbors all told him the area was too dangerous — that even government representatives could not guarantee their safety there. He had asked if anyone would accompany him. No one would. He went anyway.
Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez offered a reward of roughly $80,500 USD for information leading to those responsible. No arrest followed. According to FLIP, Colombia's press freedom foundation, armed groups have attacked journalists 387 times since 2022, with most incidents concentrated in rural zones where the state is absent and armed groups govern by force. Mateo knew the cost of reporting in these places. He had already paid smaller installments of it. In the end, the debt was total.
Mateo Pérez Rueda was 25 years old when he decided to ride his motorcycle into the rural areas around Briceño, Antioquia, to document what was happening there. He was a journalism student at the National University in Medellín, but more importantly, he was the founder and director of El Confidente de Yarumal, a digital news outlet that had become a steady voice reporting on organized crime, corruption, and security in the municipalities of northern Antioquia where armed groups operated openly. He had already faced legal threats, summons, and hostile acts because of the work he did. On May 5, he went missing from the rural hamlet of Palmichal. His motorcycle, wallet, cell phone, and keys were found abandoned.
The search that followed was brief. Within days, authorities confirmed they had found his body. President Gustavo Petro identified the killer as Jhon Edison Chalá Torrejano, a member of the Darío Gutiérrez front, itself a splinter group broken away from the 36th Front of the dissidents of the former FARC. The body was released to Mateo's family only after negotiations between criminal organizations and humanitarian groups, including the International Committee of the Red Cross. The family was not permitted to enter the zone themselves.
What made this killing particularly complicated was the political context surrounding it. The man allegedly responsible for Mateo's death operated within a criminal structure led by someone known as Calarcá Córdoba, a guerrilla leader currently participating in President Petro's "Total Peace" negotiations with armed groups. The government had suspended Calarcá's arrest warrant to facilitate those talks. This meant that while Mateo was being killed for reporting on armed group activity, the government was simultaneously negotiating with the very structures that killed him.
Before he went into those rural areas, people had warned him not to go. Local residents, neighbors, and officials all told him it was unsafe—that even government officials could not guarantee their safety in those sectors. Mateo had asked several officials if someone could accompany him to gather information about the conflict. They declined. He went anyway, on his motorcycle, into territory controlled by armed groups that had already shown they were willing to use violence against journalists.
Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez initially treated the case as a disappearance, but Mateo's family understood almost immediately what had happened. Within hours of losing contact with him, they knew. Sánchez eventually offered a reward of 300 million Colombian pesos—roughly $80,500 USD—for information leading to those responsible. The money was never claimed, or at least no arrest followed.
Mateo's death is not an isolated incident. According to FLIP, a Colombian press freedom foundation, armed groups have attacked journalists 387 times since 2022, using threats and forced displacement to silence reporting. Most of these attacks happen in rural territories and active conflict zones, places where the state's presence is weak and armed groups exercise real control. Mateo knew this. He had lived with the consequences of reporting in these areas. He chose to go anyway, and he paid for that choice with his life.
What remains unclear is whether anything will change. The government is negotiating with the armed groups that killed him. The killer has not been arrested. And journalists in Antioquia are still trying to decide whether to keep reporting or to stop.
Notable Quotes
He was murdered by Jhon Edison Chalá Torrejano, from the Darío Gutiérrez front, which is a divided group from the 36th Front, fragmented into various criminal groups.— President Gustavo Petro
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did he go, knowing it was dangerous?
Because the story was there. Because communities in those municipalities needed someone to document what was happening to them. He'd already built a platform—El Confidente de Yarumal—that people relied on. Walking away meant silence.
But people warned him. Officials warned him.
They did. And he ignored them. That's the part that's hard to sit with. He wasn't reckless exactly—he was asking for accompaniment, trying to do it carefully. But there's no careful way to report on armed groups when those groups don't want to be reported on.
The government is negotiating with the people who killed him.
Yes. That's the contradiction at the heart of this. Petro's "Total Peace" initiative is trying to bring armed groups into dialogue, but those same groups are still committing murders. The government suspended an arrest warrant for Calarcá Córdoba to keep the talks going. Meanwhile, Mateo is dead.
Does that mean the peace process is failing?
It means the peace process and the violence are happening simultaneously. They're not sequential. The government is trying to negotiate an end to conflict while journalists are still being killed by the very groups at the negotiating table.
What happens to journalism in Antioquia now?
That's the real question. 387 attacks on the press since 2022. Mateo's death is one data point in a pattern. Other journalists are watching. Some will keep reporting. Some will leave. Some will self-censor. The armed groups have learned that killing a journalist can work.