Colombia's Simon Bolivar Prize has been awarded to AFP photographer Luis Robayo, the second consecutive year a journalist from the agency has won the country's top photo prize.
Robayo, 31, was recognised for his coverage of the occupation of an army base near Toribio in Cauca province in July 2012 by members of an indigenous community who want the army and FARC guerrillas to leave their violence-plagued region, the prize authorities said in a statement today.
He has been AFP's correspondent in Cali, capital of the FARC stronghold of Cauca, since 2008. He hails from the northeastern city of Cucuta on the Venezuelan border, and covered the border region for leading daily El Tiempo before joining AFP.
The Simon Bolivar Prize is Colombia's highest journalism award. It has 11 categories and this is the second consecutive year that AFP has been chosen for a prize.
In 2012, Luis Acosta, AFP's chief photographer in Bogota, won for a series of images of Colombian acid attack victims.
