Guillermo Cano Isaza

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Cano and the second or maternal family name is Isaza.

Guillermo Cano Isaza (12 August 1925 – 17 December 1986) was a Colombian journalist. The editor of El Espectador from 1952 until 1986, he was assassinated in Bogotá in what was widely seen as an attack related to his criticism of Colombia's drug barons.

Guillermo Cano Isaza
Cano statue in Medellín
Born	(1925-08-12)12 August 1925 Bogotá, Colombia[1]
Died	17 December 1986(1986-12-17) (aged 61) Bogotá, Colombia
Years active	1952–1986
Notable credit	Editor of El Espectador
Relatives	Fidel Cano Gutiérrez

Cano was editor of the newspaper El Espectador from 1950 to 1986, the second largest daily in his country and the oldest in circulation, which was owned by his family. He was the founder of the Sunday Magazine, executive secretary, co-editor with Gabriel Cano, and editor of El Espectador.^[2] In 1986, Cano received the CPB (Bogotá Journalists' Circle) National Journalism Award in the press category for his Sunday column "Libreta de Apuntes" (Notebook), whose topics ranged from recollections of prominent figures in the nation's life to critical commentaries on the country's problems.^[3] He was a soccer fan and a supporter of Independiente Santa Fe.^[4][5][6]

Man of values and principles, Cano clashed with prominent figures in the country due to his investigative journalism and his newspaper's support for liberal-leaning political and social causes, such as the war on drug trafficking led by Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla,^[7] Senator Luis Carlos Galán, and Police Colonel Jaime Ramírez; as well as the auto-loan scandal involving the Michelsen family and their conglomerate, Grupo Grancolombiano. He was assassinated by hitmen hired by Pablo Escobar for his fierce pursuit of drug traffickers from the Medellín Cartel, whom he had been exposing since 1983.^[8]

Biography

Guillermo Cano was the heir of Fidel Cano Gutiérrez, the founder of El Espectador. As a journalist, he had worked on the paper's bullfighting, sports, cultural and political sections. He had served as the editor of El Espectador from 1952 until his death.^[9]

Death

On 17 December 1986 as Guillermo Cano Isaza was leaving the offices from El Espectador in his Subaru Leone, one of two hitmen on a motorcycle across the street at a stoplight opened fire at Cano with an Uzi, shooting Cano 4 times in the chest and causing him to lose control of the car and crash into a light pole. The hitmen quickly fled the scene and he was rushed to a hospital where he died shortly before 7 pm .^[10] It was assumed that the attack was in response to a campaign Cano had launched in the paper years earlier to denounce the influence of drug traffickers in the country's politics. Three years later, El Espectador's building was destroyed with a 300-pound bomb, Cano's family lawyer was murdered, and the Cano family summer house was burned down.

In an October 1995 ruling, four individuals (María Ofelia Saldarriaga, Pablo Enrique Zamora, Carlos Martínez Hernández, and Luis Carlos Molina Yepes) were found guilty of conspiring to commit his murder and sentenced to prison terms of 16 years, 8 months. However, on appeal the convictions of all but Molina were overturned.^[11]

A bust of Guillermo Cano

Legacy

In 1987 a bust of Cano was erected in his memory. It was bombed that same year and also in 1988. Years later, it was restored.^[12]

In 1997, UNESCO created an annual prize that bears his name—the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize—which serves to honour a person or institution that has done outstanding work in defending the freedom of the press. In 2000, he was named one of International Press Institute's 50 World Press Freedom Heroes of the 20th century.^[11]

Cano is portrayed by the Colombian actor Germán Quintero in the TV series Escobar, el patrón del mal.