01 Jul 11 | Index Index, minipost
Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho told Mexican authorities on Thursday (30 June) that she has received anonymous death threats via phone and e-mail for revealing the names of sex traffickers. Authorities claim they have leads on the source of the threats. Cacho is one of many journalists who have been intimidated or even killed by crime rings for their reporting in Mexico.
23 Jun 11 | Americas, Mexico
The back to back murders of two prominent crime journalists have cast a dark shadow over Mexican press freedom.
Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco, 55, a former deputy director and well established crime columnist for the newspaper Notiver of Veracuz was the second journalist killed in Mexico in a week.
Pablo Ruelas Barraza, a freelance crime reporter, received death threats before he was killed on 13 June in the northeastern state of Sonora.
It is not clear who killed Velasco, but it is rumoured that he is the latest victim of drug gangs, supporting the view that cartels are silencing Mexican media. Velasco, his wife and 21 year old son, Misael, were killed by intruders who broke into his home early Wednesday morning, 21 June. Velasco wrote the column Va de Nuez, or “In a nutgraph”.
Notiver is a very important local newspaper that was well known for its crime reporting. According to a Veracruz based reporter, the daily newspaper has tamed its reporting style since last year, supposedly after threats from drug lords.
A review of crime reporting, conducted by the Mexico City-based Fundacion MEPI de Periodismo de Investigacion, found that Notiver had reduced the number of organized crime stories it covered in the first six months of 2010. In 2007, drug traffickers allegedly left a human head in front of the newspaper’s office with left a note that mentioned Lopez Velasco’s nickname.
06 Jun 11 | Americas, Mexico
The ongoing violence against Mexico’s media workers means there is little surprise when another journalist is found dead. Twelve journalists have been killed in Mexico in the last 18 months, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). But the recent discovery of the body of Noel Lopez Holguin marks the first recent case where the state can prove direct link between the murder of a journalist and drug traffickers. Holgiun disappeared on 8 March. His body was found in a shallow grave in a hamlet near Jaltipan, his hometown, after police arrested a local drug boss who is part of the Zetas, a violent local drug cartel.
Gang leader Alejandro Castro Chirinos, nicknamed El Dragón, confessed to killing the journalist — Holguin’s camera had been found in his possession.
Holguin’s March disappearance followed the February kidnapping of Fabian Santiago Hernandez, owner of La Verdad of Jaltipan, the newspaper where Holguin worked.
The newspaper published several stories condemning drug cartels and the local police who collude with them.
Hernandez was kidnapped after he wrote an open letter to President Felipe Calderon, published on FaceBook, denouncing the local police. His son was also kidnapped, but both of them were released unharmed a few days later. Jaltipan is a known Zetas strong hold.
20 May 11 | Americas, Mexico
Community radio stations have had a difficult time in Latin America in the last four years. In Mexico, Brazil and Chile, community radios have been penalised for operating without a government license, according to Aleida Callejas, local director of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC Mexico). In Mexico, the authorities have began using a 2004 law that protects the country’s patrimony or “Ley de Bienes Generales” to punish community radio stations that operate without a government license with prison sentences and fines. This move has been criticised by both the Organisation of American States and the United Nations Special Rappourteur for Freedom of the Press. The new law, which applies its article 150 to community radios, is more draconian than the Radio and Television law used in similar cases in the past.
The case of Hector Camero of Radio Tierra y Libertad in Monterre is the most recent example, Canero was sentenced to two years in prison for operating his station. His case will probably be appealed before the country’s Supreme Court. “The law is draconian” says Callejas.
The debate over whether community radios are legal has been argued robustly across Latin America. In Mexico, promoters argue that they serve underrepresented communities, including indigenous areas. Several community radio stations have eventually managed to obtain operating licenses, a move criticised by commercial networks, who argue that their business is being affected by unlicensed pirate stations. Callejas worries that now, the commercial radio stations are pressuring regional governors across the country to follow the Canero’s example and penalise community radio projects.
