WASHINGTON, October 26, 1999 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based non-profit organization, presented its International Press Freedom Award to ICIJ member María Cristina Caballero for her courageous reporting on Colombia.

Caballero was forced to flee the Colombian capital of Bogota in spring 1999, after receiving death threats on her answering machine.

In the course of her investigations, CPJ said, “Caballero had made enemies all around, having interviewed all sides in the conflict that is tearing her country apart — including drug traffickers, guerrilla leaders, and the leader of the right-wing paramilitary United Self Defense Forces of Colombia.” For her interview with AUC leader Carlos Castaño titled “This War Can’t Go on Any Longer,” Caballero won the 1998 Simón Bolívar National Prize for Journalism.

Caballero is currently on leave from the newsmagazine Semana, writing a book about Colombia’s civil war.