Mateo Pérez Rueda journalism scholarships launched in Antioquia

The government of Antioquia has officially launched the Mateo Pérez Rueda journalism scholarships, an initiative designed to honor the life, dedication, and legacy of the young Antioquian journalist who was murdered.

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The purpose is to open new training opportunities for those who wish to tell the stories of their territories.

Under the slogan 'Where a story was silenced, new voices are born,' the program aims to provide training opportunities for young individuals aspiring to tell the stories of their territories. It will benefit 16 young people from PDET municipalities (Programs for Territorial Development) and Zomac areas (Zones Most Affected by Armed Conflict). These selected students will receive free technical training in digital journalism.

The initiative is a collaborative effort led by the Governorate of Antioquia and the Gilberto Echeverri Mejía Corporation, in partnership with Fundación Grupo El Colombiano, Teleantioquia, and Uniminuto. The organizers emphasize their goal of equipping young people with the academic and practical tools needed to narrate their communities' realities, preserve local memory, and practice journalism with rigor and commitment.

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Where a story was silenced, new voices are born.

Governor Andrés Julián Rendón stated that the scholarships are a tribute not only to Mateo but also to his family, reflecting the values he was taught. He expressed hope that the program will empower many young people in Antioquia and across Colombia to report on rural life and expose the interests behind ongoing violence. Rendón believes that confronting crime with security, justice, and social opportunities, rather than compromise, is key to achieving peace.

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This is a tribute not only to Mateo, but to his family because we are all a consequence of what is woven in our home; the way Mateo died accounts for the values he was taught.

This inaugural call for applications offers a ten-month program with 768 hours of theoretical and practical training. The Antioquia government will fully fund the tuition, amounting to 3,600,000 Colombian pesos per student. Additionally, beneficiaries will receive a monthly stipend of 2,200,000 pesos to cover living expenses, including 1,200,000 pesos for transportation and 1,000,000 pesos for maintenance. The training will be conducted in person at the Uniminuto campus in Bello.

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We have great hope that, with these scholarships, many young people in Antioquia and the country can train and tell the stories of their rural areas; if many young people like Mateo begin to reveal the interests behind those who continue to inflict violence in Colombia with insurgent projects, perhaps sooner rather than later, the country will understand that peace is not achieved by compromising with crime, but that it is imposed with security, justice, and social opportunities.