20 Jun 13 | Americas
Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, promised in London yesterday that tackling crime and drug-related violence is a priority for his six-month-old government. While improving safety is important, Peña Nieto must also remember that protecting journalists and human rights workers must go beyond words, says Sara Yasin
Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico giving a speech at an awards ceremony in 2012
Speaking at Chatham House, a foreign relations think tank, Peña Nieto delivered a lecture outlining his general aims for addressing Mexico’s economic problems.
I was most interested in what Peña Nieto had to say about security: He listed lowering violence as a priority for his administration, and he has previously stated that he ambitiously aims to halve Mexico’s murder rate by the end of his six-year term.
When asked about human rights violations, Peña Nieto said that his administration’s “commitment is clear”, and even claimed that the country has already seen a reduction in violations during his six months in office.
In April this year, the Mexican government approved legislation broadening the jurisdiction of the country’s federal authorities, in order to prosecute crimes against freedom of expression.
Peña Nieto’s rosy overtures of peace and safety yesterday most certainly aren’t enough, as speaking out in Mexico comes at a price: In the first 100 days of the new president’s time in office, there have been 56 attacks against journalists, and 36 against human rights defenders, as well as one assassination. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 28 journalists have been slain between 1992 and 2013.
It might be too soon to really evaluate the new legislation, but journalist Anabel Hernandez says that Peña Nieto “has no interest in either solving the murders of journalists or protecting them while they continue working in the country.”
Hernandez, well-known for exposing government corruption, was warned in 2010 of a high-level police officer’s plot to murder her. She has received 24-hour protection from armed guards ever since, but it looks like that will be changing soon. Hernandez told Vice Magazine that she received a letter from Mexico City’s government in April notifying her that she would no longer be allowed an armed escort, and that her protection will now be transferred to federal police — the same officers that she says have been threatening her and her sources.
The journalist reached out to the Secretary of Interior after receiving the letter, in order to press them to take her safety seriously. Hernandez has been “physically targeted in the past two years”, and her family members have also faced threats. The new programme only offers her a “panic button” which she says “does nothing to aid in the pursuit of the attackers.”
She also said that the programme “is being used simply to put on a show for the outside world. It’s a means to save face internationally. Keeping up international relations is more important than addressing freedom of expression.”
Local activists are currently pushing on the administration to stress the importance of human rights defenders and journalists, and take adequate measures to protect them.
Sara Yasin is an Editorial Assistant at Index. She tweets from @missyasin
20 May 13 | Americas, News and features
The former journalist asks not to use his real name. So I will call him Francisco. He had been at the height of his career in 2007, in the vibrant city of Torreon, in northern Mexico, when he received a call from an unknown man, Ana Arana reports.
The man said he wanted to drink “lemonade” with him, slang he knew drug traffickers used when they wanted to discuss something with journalists. The journalist drove to a meeting place outside the city. There he found other colleagues who had also been summoned. The man showed them a newspaper story. “Here you say we fled a scene,” he said angrily, “we never flee, we are not cowards, and you can’t use that word to describe our activities,” he emphasized, showing the story in a newspaper.
(more…)
28 Mar 13 | Newswire
A new telecommunications reform that was presented in Mexico by the government of Enrique Peña Nieto has been heralded worldwide. The reform bill seeks to amend the Mexican Constitution and will open the telephony and television industries. The changes had been recommended last year by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which said the lack of competition in the telecommunications sector cost Mexico $25 billion dollars a year and offered among the highest prices in the world to consumers.
The Mexican Congress’ lower house approved the law on Thursday March 21 and the Mexican Senate is expected to approve it in April. The version approved opens radio, television and telecommunications to foreign investment. The reform was presented to Congress in February, a feat reached by the Pact for Mexico, a multi-party front that seeks to introduce major reforms in the country. In the Mexican Congress, the bill was revised considerably by legislators. For instance, at the onset, the proposal would have allowed 100 per cent foreign investment in radio, television and telecommunications. But after two weeks of congressional tinkering, the law was restricted. In the approved version of the bill, foreign investment in radio and television is now limited to 49 per cent, although it could be higher — if the foreign company is from a country that offers reciprocal treatment to Mexicans. Fixed line telephony and cellular phone is set at 100 percent. The bill will impact Carlos Slim, now owner of Telmex, a fixed line telephony company that controls most of the country’s fixed lines, and Telcel, the country’s largest cellular telephone company.
The multi-milllion dollar open, non-cable television spectrum in Mexico is controlled by two media giants, Televisa and Azteca Television, which have controlled open waves for several decades.
The bill also creates a new regulatory body that will be functioning in 2014.
Critics such as Ernesto Villanueva welcomed the bill’s recognition of community radio in Proseco Magazine, but worried about the future of such local media, because the law does not permit them to seek publicity. The World Association of Community Radios, AMARC, urged the Mexican Congress to protect the rights of marginalised communities.
When asked his opinion about the reform, Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, according to Forbes, said he welcomed the reform which will improve broadband, telephone and television and radio industries in Mexico. Since the reform was made public, stock prices for America Movil, Slim’s company plummeted causing $6 billion dollars in losses.
28 Mar 13 | Mexico, Uncategorized
A new telecommunications reform that was presented in Mexico by the government of Enrique Peña Nieto has been heralded worldwide. The reform bill seeks to amend the Mexican Constitution and will open the telephony and television industries. The changes had been recommended last year by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which said the lack of competition in the telecommunications sector cost Mexico $25 billion dollars a year and offered among the highest prices in the world to consumers.
The Mexican Congress’ lower house approved the law on Thursday March 21 and the Mexican Senate is expected to approve it in April. The version approved opens radio, television and telecommunications to foreign investment. The reform was presented to Congress in February, a feat reached by the Pact for Mexico, a multi-party front that seeks to introduce major reforms in the country. In the Mexican Congress, the bill was revised considerably by legislators. For instance, at the onset, the proposal would have allowed 100 per cent foreign investment in radio, television and telecommunications. But after two weeks of congressional tinkering, the law was restricted. In the approved version of the bill, foreign investment in radio and television is now limited to 49 per cent, although it could be higher — if the foreign company is from a country that offers reciprocal treatment to Mexicans. Fixed line telephony and cellular phone is set at 100 percent. The bill will impact Carlos Slim, now owner of Telmex, a fixed line telephony company that controls most of the country’s fixed lines, and Telcel, the country’s largest cellular telephone company.
The multi-milllion dollar open, non-cable television spectrum in Mexico is controlled by two media giants, Televisa and Azteca Television, which have controlled open waves for several decades.
The bill also creates a new regulatory body that will be functioning in 2014.
Critics such as Ernesto Villanueva welcomed the bill’s recognition of community radio in Proseco Magazine, but worried about the future of such local media, because the law does not permit them to seek publicity. The World Association of Community Radios, AMARC, urged the Mexican Congress to protect the rights of marginalised communities.
When asked his opinion about the reform, Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, according to Forbes, said he welcomed the reform which will improve broadband, telephone and television and radio industries in Mexico. Since the reform was made public, stock prices for America Movil, Slim’s company plummeted causing $6 billion dollars in losses.
