Update on the recent Latin Pulse episode, Colombia: Stories That Kill

The Colombian government has been conducting intensive spy operations on opposition members for years. This revelation earlier this year garnered promises of reform from agency directors, but new evidence shows the spy program still seems to be expanding. This expansion comes as President Uribe seeks a third term in office.

Targets of this operation include lawyers, activists, union leaders, indigenous leaders and journalists. Hollman Morris, director of Contravía, recounted his personal experience with the state's intelligence agency to Latin Pulse in July.

The Department of Administrative Security, or DAS, reports directly to the president and works closely with the U.S. The U.S. State Department authorized another $545 million dollars in military aid in September, despite the scandal and a troubling human rights record.

The New York Times also recently reported on this issue, and you can watch Al Jazeera English's report below.

Link's latest episode of Latin Pulse/Pulso Latino travels to Toribio, Colombia, symbol of the indigenous resistance movement following a devastating attack by FARC guerillas in 2005. With their land under attack, occupied by guerillas, paramilitaries, and police, the Naza Indians native to this region in Southern Colombia are struggling to pick up the pieces. The dangers for civilians remain high in Colombia's Cauca region, as FARC guerillas, drug traffickers and police continue to do battle, including this recent attack in Buenos Aires, Cauca, Colombia.

This video footage comes from Colombian TV program Contravia, led by investigative journalist Hollman Morris, who was featured in this previous Latin Pulse interview. The Foundation for a New Iberian-American Journalism, an organization founded by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, awarded this episode of Contravia its highest prize in 2007 for journalistic excellence.

Link's Latin Pulse/Pulso Latino programs have only been getting better, presenting hard-hitting journalistic reports from countries like Colombia, Mexico and El Salvador. If you missed the recent report "Colombia: Stories That Kill", be sure to go back and watch online for some great analysis on free speech (or the lack thereof) among journalists in Colombia.

Today, we've just published the web-exclusive complete interview with Hollman Morris, the award-winning journalist who is featured in the above-mentioned report. The Colombian secret police have been illegally spying on Morris since 2004, and this fascinating interview (conducted via the video phone service Skype) explains why.

(Click here for the original version of the interview, en Español.)

You can read more about the claims that journalist Hollman Morris was a Colombian secret police target at Contravia.tv, a partner organization of Latin Pulse.