MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US reverses decision and extends visa to leading Colombian journalist

Hollman Morris was previously barred under the US Patriotic Act

The United States State Department has reversed its decision to deny a visa to a leading Colombian journalist to take up a prestigious fellowship position.

Journalist Hollman Morris and his family picked up their visas at the US Embassy in Bogotá on Tuesday. Morris and his family can now travel to the US where Morris will attend Harvard for the year-long Nieman Foundation fellowship.

Last month, the 41-year-old Morris was told he was ruled permanently ineligible for a US visa under the terrorist activities clause of the USA Patriot Act.

Journalists, lawmakers and many human rights organizations, lobbied strongly for a reversal on the decision, calling the visa denial an attack on free speech.

Morris has reported on ties between illegal far-right militias and allies of outgoing President Álvaro Uribe, Washington's closest ally in Latin America.

He is one of 12 foreign journalists admitted to the prestigious Nieman Foundation Fellowship program for the 2010-2011 academic year.