In October 2022, Colombian journalist Rafael Moreno was shot dead. Six months after the assassination, 30 journalists continued his investigations into allegations of wide scale corruption and environmental damage. With new evidence, they revealed serious irregularities that confirmed a system of cronyism in public works contracts and exposed the methods of mining companies that Moreno was investigating.

Funeral vigil in memory of Rafael Moreno in Puerto Libertador, Córdoba (Colombia), October 26, 2022. (Photo: Diego Cuevas/El País)

In a new move to crack down on Russian corruption in Central America, the United States hassanctioned two people and three Guatemalan-based mining companies in cases exposed byOCCRP andForbidden Stories earlier this year.

Regina Martínez spent years exposing the nexus between politics and organized crime in the state of Veracruz. After she was brutally murdered in her own bathroom, prosecutors blamed a love affair gone wrong. The more journalists looked into the case, the less likely the official story looked.

Around the world, journalists investigating the environmental and human impact of the mining industry are facing threats, harassment and violence. OCCRP and Forbidden Stories – a consortium of 40 journalists in 15 countries – takes a look at examples from three continents, in Guatemala, Tanzania, and India.