Filmmaker and cameraperson/DP
Dateline investigates Colombia’s booming sex tourism trade and the foreigners who come to prey on minors. We join police raids on brothels, hear from survivors and meet the accused now behind bars. September 2023
Reporter/producer: Calliste Weitenberg
Camera/producer: Bruno Federico
Local producer/additional camera: Simone Bruno
Editor: Micah McGown
Jun 21, 2023
Fault Lines captures the confession of a Colombian colonel responsible for the deaths of 53 innocent civilians and asks their families for forgiveness in exchange for amnesty. In the mid-2000s, Colombia sought to prove it was finally winning its long-running war against the country’s armed rebels. Military top brass pressured ground troops to kill more fighters in action. As a result, soldiers executed thousands of civilians, framing them as rebel fighters, and called them “false positives”. Soldiers who delivered the highest body counts were rewarded with bonuses, promotions, and other perks. In 2022, Colombia’s truth commission revealed at least 6,402 civilians were executed between 2002 and 2008. Now, as a result of Colombia’s historic 2016 peace deal, military officials responsible for these atrocities can qualify for amnesty in exchange for truthful testimony about their war crimes.
Director: Jeremy Raff Producers: Bruno Federico, Simone Bruno, Jeremy Raff Directory of Photography: Bruno Federico and Jeremy Raff Editor: Leslie Atkins Executive Producer: Laila Al-Arian Fact Checking: Jeremy Young Digital Producer: Riham Mansour Archivist: Shelley Simpson Sound mix: Luke Rohwer Colorist: Edwin Rodriguez Special thanks: Kavitha Chekuru and Adrienne Haspel This project was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
Whether fleeing war, persecution, poverty or the effects of climate change, migrants and refugees worldwide routinely find themselves in great danger. Perhaps the most hazardous migrant trail of all is the Darien Gap, a wild, lawless stretch straddling Colombia and Panama. Before the pandemic, special correspondent Nadja Drost and videographer Bruno Federico reported from this perilous path.
May 8, 2019
In Colombia, an estimated 83,000 people have been forcibly disappeared since 1958. But peace accords between the government and the FARC, the country’s largest guerrilla group, in 2016 mandated that finding the missing was a necessary step toward reconciliation. Special correspondent Nadja Drost reports from Colombia on how loved ones suffering a “never-ending grief” are searching for closure.
Violent protests erupted this past weekend in Venezuela over humanitarian aid shipments into the country. Meanwhile, Vice President Pence traveled to Colombia to meet with opposition leader Juan Guaido, promising that the U.S. would increase sanctions on Venezuela in an attempt to oust President Maduro, and calling for other countries to do the same. Special correspondent Nadja Drost reports.
Despite the peace deal, new waves of deadly violence are hitting many areas of Colombia, especially those once under FARC-rebel control. And it’s targeting the very people — activists and social leaders — for whom the peace deal was supposed to make life safer. Special correspondent Nadja Drost and videographer Bruno Federico report in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
Very happy our series, with Nadja Drost, about Colombia’s peace process for the PBS NewsHour received the Overseas Press Club Award for best reporting on Latin America. Thank you to PBS for giving us the opportunity to tell this important story to the North American public and to join this super team of producers: Morgan Till, Patti Parson, and Sara Just.
Here are the reports in the award-winning series:
Can Colombia rework its FARC deal without jeopardizing peace? PBS NewsHour
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos joins PBS NewsHour
What peace in Colombia would mean for the drug trade and those who depend on it. PBS NewsHour
Inside Colombia’s jungles, how FARC rebels are preparing for peace. PBS NewsHour
Bruno Federico 