Watch the trailer HERE

Colombian investigative journalist Rafael Moreno was killed on October 2022 after his reporting exposed corruption and crime in the department of Córdoba, work that ultimately cost him his life. A few days after he was killed, “The Rafael Project” was launched by Forbidden Stories, the international consortium of investigative journalists, with which Rafael Moreno was in contact. Radio France International and France 24, along with a group of 30 journalists, have pursued the investigations of Rafael Moreno to keep his stories alive and to reaffirm the right to information at the international level.

Paramilitary groups, pollution, embezzlement of public funds, corruption… For the past 6 months, the journalists of the consortium examined hundreds of documents. They also made reports and collected testimonies in Córdoba, to highlight the nature of the activities and their consequences around Montelibano, where Rafael was based. 

On RFI

The journalists Aabla Jounaïdi, (RFI in French) and Angélica Pérez (RFI in Spanish) went to Córdoba, in the surroundings of the Cerro Matoso mine, to review the environmental, health and economic consequences for the local population.

All these productions are aired on RFI in French and in Spanish.

On France 24

    - On April 18th at 8.30 pm** (on France 24 in English) and 8 pm* (on France 24 in French)

Laurent Richard, executive director of Forbidden Stories speaks to France 24 about the consortium led by Forbidden Stories on the assassination of Rafael Moreno.

    - On April 19th at 7.50 am**: Focus (3 minutes) by Pascale Mariani

Between several sensitive files, the journalist Rafael Moreno was closely interested in Cerro Matoso, a gigantic open-pit nickel mine in the south of Córdoba. The mine belongs to an Australian company that is digging in the ancestral territory of the Zenu Indians. This indigenous community accuses Cerro Matoso of spreading disease and desolation on their lands.

    - On April 22nd at 10.10 pm** Reporters (12min40) by Pascale Mariani and Juan Orozco

Rafael Moreno was a citizen journalist. He tirelessly denounced on his Facebook page the corruption of local administrations and abuses by large companies exploiting the natural resources of his area, Córdoba, in the northwest of Colombia. In a country where the law of silence reigns, his investigations were followed by more than 40,000 people. He regularly received death threats. In October 2022, he contacted Forbidden Stories to share documents and confidential information with the consortium, before he was murdered on October 16th by a hired killer. After several months of collective investigation, France 24's team followed in Rafael Moreno’s footsteps, in a region marked by decades of conflict. A tribute to all journalists who, as Rafael Moreno, are in the front line of the fight against corruption and injustice in Colombia and elsewhere.

This "Reporters" is also available on France 24 in French, in Spanish, and in Arabic.

* Including the Die Zeit, El Espectador, El País, Le Monde, RTS, The Guardian…

Forbidden Stories is a network of journalists is to protect, pursue and publish the work of other journalists facing threats, prison, or murder. Since its creation in 2017, more than 150 journalists and 60 media outlets have participated in collaborative investigations coordinated by Forbidden Stories, including “The Cartel Project”, Story Killers, or “The Pegasus Project”. 

The Rafael Project is the first investigation that takes up the work of a journalist from the SafeBox Network. This network, created by Forbidden Stories, allows threatened journalists around the world to keep their most sensitive investigations safe. If one of them is abducted, imprisoned or murdered, Forbidden Stories and its media partners can continue the work they have begun, so that it can be made known to as many people as possible.

*Paris Time