Journalists abducted in Mexico

March 10th, 2010

On March 4, a reporter and camera operator (http://www NULL.ifex NULL.org/mexico/2010/03/05/grupo_milenio_journalists_kidnapped/) for Milenio Televisión were kidnapped in Reynosa (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Reynosa,_Tamaulipas), Tamaulipas state (northeastern Mexico) while covering a wave of violence caused by a dispute between two of the regions rival drug trafficking groups. The journalists were later released with a warning, “Don’t come here to heat things up.” Ciro Gómez Leyva, Assistant Editorial Director for the Milenio Group, who sent the crew to Reynosa, wrote in a column: “Every day in more regions in Mexico it is impossible to do reporting. Journalism is dead in Reynosa, etcetera. I have nothing else to say.” “In the past 14 days, at least eight Mexican journalists (http://cpj NULL.org/blog/2010/03/eight-journalists-abducted-in-mexico NULL.php) have been abducted in Reynosa”,  Alfredo Corchado reports (http://www NULL.dallasnews NULL.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/stories/DN-blackout_08int NULL.ART NULL.State NULL.Edition2 NULL.4b84845 NULL.html). “One died after a severe beating, according to reports that could not be independently verified. Two were released by their captors. The rest are missing.”

Mexico to restrict Twitter

February 8th, 2010

Mexican politicians (http://knightcenter NULL.utexas NULL.edu/blog/?q=en/node/6370) are seeking to regulate the use of social media, like Twitter (http://thenextweb NULL.com/socialmedia/2010/02/03/could-mexico-ban-twitter/), Facebook or Myspace. They claim Mexican users are using these sites (http://www NULL.globalpost NULL.com/dispatch/mexico/100128/twitter-crackdown?page=0,0) to avoid drunk-driving checkpoints.

Mexican reporter found dead after kidnap

January 11th, 2010

Valentín Valdés Espinosa, journalist of the newspaper Zócalo de Saltillo (http://www NULL.zocalo NULL.com NULL.mx/), was found dead On 8 January in the city of Saltillo, northern México. Valdés Espinosa had been kidnapped the day before with a colleague, after they left the newspapers offices. According to the magazine Proceso (http://www NULL.proceso NULL.com NULL.mx/), the second reporter was later released. Valdés had been tortured and shot several times, Coahuila’s attorney general’s office said. The reporter was found with a message that read: “This is going to happen to those who don’t understand. The message is for everyone.” Read more here (http://cpj NULL.org/2010/01/abducted-reporter-found-dead-in-mexico NULL.php)

Mexico: democracy without voice

December 23rd, 2009

The killing of 12 journalists in Mexico this year and the failure to bring murderers to justice poses a serious problem for Mexican democracy argues Ángel García Català
(more…)

Journalist kidnapped and executed in northern Mexico

November 4th, 2009

A journalist was kidnapped and killed in Durango state in northern Mexico on 2 November. Bladimir Antuna García, a reporter for the police section of El Tiempo de Durango newspaper, was found dead on Monday according to the Durango attorney general’s office. Antuna García had been kidnapped by an armed group early Monday on his way to work in Durango city, the state capital. On 26 May, following the murder of reporter Eliseo Barrón Hernández, someone called him and threatened that Antuna García would be next. Antuna García, whose work often focused on police matters, also told to the Center for Journalism and Public Ethics (CEPET) that he survived an assassination attempt on 26 April, when a gunman fired shots at him in front of his home. Read more (http://cpj NULL.org/2009/11/mexican-crime-reporter-abducted-and-slain-in-duran NULL.php)

Mexican journalist receive death threats

October 30th, 2009

Maria de los Ángeles González Hernández, columnist at the newspaper “El Político” has reportedly received a number of anonymous death threats by email, allegedly from local labour leaders in Xalapa, Veracruz, southern Mexico. On 22 October, the journalist said she had received seven emails with threats against her and her family. According to Gonzalez, the threats could arise from a newspaper column in which concerns the triumph of independent workers in a contest to represent employees in negotiating the collective agreement of the sugar factory Ingenio El Potrero, managing to defeat the main union of the country, the Confederation of Workers of Mexico (CTM).

Mexican journalist killed and tortured

July 30th, 2009

Mexican news broadcaster, Juan Daniel Martinez Gil, of the Radiorama station in the Mexican resort city of Acapulco, has been found dead with signs of having been tortured. “The body was buried, it had tape covering the face, it was beaten, swollen and without a shirt,” a spokesperson from Radiorama said. Read more here (http://www NULL.laht NULL.com/article NULL.asp?ArticleId=340308&CategoryId=14091)

Concern over journalist murder trial anomalies

June 9th, 2009

Human rights groups have voiced concern over the sentencing of Hiram Oliveros Ortiz for the murder of Mexican journalist Roberto Javier Mora Garcia, arguing that there are numerous anomalies in the case. Read more here (http://ifex NULL.org/mexico/2009/06/08/alleged_murderer_sentenced/)