LIMA, Peru - Peru's government granted protection Friday to a Colombian journalist who fled his country after receiving death threats for his coverage of the Colombian civil war, a press watchdog group said.
Carlos Pulgarin left Colombia on Dec. 8 and sought refuge with the help of the Institute of Press and Society of Peru. But soon after his arrival in Lima, Pulgarin started receiving death threats on an answering machine at the institute's headquarters.
As a result, the government is "actively assuming guarantees for his personal protection," said Jorge Salazar, the institute's director.
Salazar said the government protection was granted after meetings with government officials, Peru's human rights ombudsman and international organizations.
Pulgarin was based deep in paramilitary-controlled territory in Colombia's northwestern city of Monteria. He began receiving death threats last June after writing about bungled military operations and the killing of indigenous people by paramilitary groups.
The threats continued even after he moved to another city.