Paraguayan Journalists Call For Action After Colleague's Murder

MONTEVIDEO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th February, 2020) Paraguay's Union of Journalists demanded on Thursday that the government take action to guarantee their safety after a Brazilian journalist was slaughtered in his Paraguayan home.

"We demand that the authorities immediately guarantee protection of the life and security of our colleagues," the union said in a statement.

It said it was "shocked and outraged" by the murder of Leo Veras in his home in the town of Pedro Juan Caballero near the porous border with Brazil. The region is notorious for its drug-smuggling gangs.

Police chief in Amambay department said the killing was related to his investigative work. Veras ran a news website that reported on organized crime.

He received 12 gunshots in the back on Thursday as he was dining with his family, becoming the 19th journalist to be killed in the South American country over the past three decades.