User:Crtew/Orel Sambrano

Orel Sambrano, also known by the pseudonym Juan Sebastián, (September 16, 1947 – January 16, 2009), a Venezuelan editor of the political weekly ABC, vice-president of privately-owned Radio América 890 AM, and a columnist for the regional daily Notitarde in Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela, was gunned down 16 January 2009 after he had been reporting about several drug trafficking cases, including one involving the Makleds, an influential business family in the region.

Personal
Orel Sambrano was born in Valencia, Carabodo, Venezuela on September 16, 1947. In 1971 graduated as a lawyer at the University of Carabobo. Then he decided travel to France to specialize in Public International Law.

He was married to Elba and the couple had a daughter, Carla, and a granddaughter, Manuela.

Career
Orel Sambrano was a mercantile lawyer and retired professor of the Faculty of Legal Sciences and Policies of the University of Carabobo. While in practice, he represented several companies located in Valencia, including the Bingo of Valencia, the betting house Binmariño C.A., and the urban cleaning contractor Servo Carabobo Metropolitano AC.

Sambrano began his work as a press professional on April 9, 1990, in the newspaper Notitarde. He wrote for 18 uninterrupted years the column "The Political Note", under the pseudonym of Juan Sebastián. At the time of his death, also was the director of the weekly ABC de la Semana and worked for the broadcast station Radio América. Sambrano was known locally for his investigations and commentaries on local politics. He was also a columnist for the regional daily Notitarde.

Sambranobe came in short time in one of the most prominent opinion commentators in the country of Venezuela. His social and political relations allowed him to go directly to the sources and bring to light public information of first order, many of which resulted in scandals, such as his denunciations of drug trafficking and shady deals, which later would have caused his death. He was not afraid to report.

Death
In the afternoon of Friday, January 16, 2009, the lawyer and journalist Orel Sambrano was killed by two hitmen who were driving a motorcycle down Prébol Street in Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela.

On February 13, 2009, Venezuelan authorities arrested Rafael Segundo Pérez, a former sergeant for the Carabobo police, in connection with Sambrano’s killing. Pérez was accused of being a hired assassin, police told the local press. The organization Reporters Without Borders warned that the denunciations made by Sambrano, about drug trafficking and corruption, would have caused his death.

Margarita Jiménez Márquez comments that Orel attended a meeting with the Mayor of Valencia in the newspaper on January 16. They met in the parking lot before beginning the interview with Mayor Parra. From 9:00 a.m. until 12:20 p.m. Next, Sambrano moved to radio station Radio América 890 AM where he had as guest Teodoro Petkoff, former presidential candidate and director of the newspaper TalCual, in his program "La Nota Policy "broadcast Monday through Friday from 1:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. When he left the radio, the lawyer went to his house. However, it would happen first by the movie rental store. The killing occurred at the entrance of Street Video, a store of rental films, in front of the School Calazanz in the urbanization Prebo I, Sector North of the city of Valencia.

In 2016, the investigation of Orel Sambrano resulted in the conviction and sentencing of Víctor Rafael Reales Hoyos to 20 years in prison.

Context
Article 57 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela expresses the following: Everyone has the right to freely express their thoughts, their ideas or opinions orally, in writing or through any form of expression and to make use of it for any means of communication and dissemination, without establishing censorship. Who makes use of this right takes full responsibility for everything expressed.

Andrés Cañizález, communications researcher, argues that Sambrano, with his incisive and critical style, showed the links of drug trafficking with the political life of Valencia. "The tentacles of the drug trafficking had reached the point that a candidate for mayor was put in prison, in the middle of the campaign, when he was discovered hundreds of kilos of cocaine on a farm owned by him."

It was also noted that Sambrano had reported about Walid Makled, a political ally of President Hugo Chavez, and his brother Abdala at a time in 2008 when the latter was running for mayor. The United States official listed Walid a drug king pin in 2009. When Sambrano had told Notitarde that it was accepting advertising dollars from the Makled's drug connections and Notitarde kept accepting money, Sambrano left.

Impact
The death of this journalist, at age 61, shocked the public, in and out of the country. A fact that received the most resounding rejection of organizations such as UNESCO. The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) requested an immediate open investigation into the case and the organization Reporters Without Borders warned that the allegations made by Sambrano, on drug trafficking and corruption, would have motivated his death.

Reactions
Koïchiro Matsuura, director-general of UNESCO, said, "The deliberate targeting of journalists such as Orel Sambrano deals a serious blow to the basic human right of freedom of expression. It is also a blow to democracy and rule of law which depend on the ability of the members of any society to hold free debates about issues of general concern and make informed decisions."

Carlos Lauría, a senior Americas program coordinator, said, "We are saddened by Orel Sambrano's death and offer our deepest condolences to his family, colleagues and friends. Venezuelan authorities must conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of his murder and immediately bring all those responsible to justice."

Charito Rojas, a radio journalist and also a close friend of Sambrano, claimed the region's reporters are afraid. He said, "All in the state Carabobo know what they can do to keep a reporter quiet. Yes, They did it with Orel, they can do it with anyone.

One year after his death, Father Pedro De Freitas, remarked in his memorial service for Sambrano, "tragic circumstances involved the death of Orel and, nevertheless, it seems that we get used to the levels of violence that we do not react in such a way. He has been dead for a year and the investigations have not yielded positive results, because there are no prisoners or nobody is paying for this death."