The Truth Cost Colombian Journalist Rafael Moreno Everything

Rafael Moreno, a Colombian journalist, was known for his relentless efforts to uncover corruption and crime in his home region of Cordoba.

Through his Facebook page, Moreno exposed embezzlement in public contracts and illegal resource extraction, but unfortunately paid the ultimate price for his reporting.

Our correspondent Pascale Mariani visited Cordoba to pay tribute to him.

In Colombia, where silence is often the norm, Moreno’s investigations were followed by over 50,000 people on Facebook, and he received regular death threats.

Six months before his assassination by a hitman on October 16, 2022, Moreno contacted the Paris-based investigative consortium Forbidden Stories, requesting that his investigations continue if anything were to happen to him.

A group of 30 investigative journalists, including , worked together for six months following Moreno’s wishes and travelled to Cordoba to learn more about his life, work, and legacy.

This report, part of the Rafael Project, honours journalists like Moreno who are dedicated to battling corruption and injustice, both in Colombia and beyond. The message is clear: killing the journalist won’t silence the story.