Index on Censorship » Mexico

Mexico: Journalist killed by armed gang

Alice Purkiss — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:15:29 +0000

A Mexican journalist has been murdered by an armed gang during a high-speed car chase. Raúl Régulo Garza Quirino, from local weekly newspaper La Última Palabra, in Nuevo León, was killed as he tried to escape the bullets of an armed gang who were firing at him from two pursuing vehicles. Quirino’s body was discovered in front of a mechanic shop, owned by a relative. Quirino is the first journalist to be killed in Mexico in 2012. In 2011, the country was named the world’s most dangerous country to practice journalism, by the International Press Institute (IPI).

Mexico: Slander and libel decreminalised

Alice Purkiss — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 12:10:57 +0000

Slander and libel have been decriminalised by the Mexican Senate. The senate approved the repeal of Articles 1 and 31 of the Crimes Act, with a unanimous decision. Mexico have joined El Salvador as the second Latin American country to decriminalise honour crimes. The decision follows the end of a seven-year defamation trial where the newspaper La Jornada accused magazine Letras Libres of damaging its reputation. The court determined that freedom of expression supersedes the right to honour.

Take action to end impunity: José Bladimir Antuna García

Alice Purkiss — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:26:00 +0000

MURDERED 2 NOVEMBER 2005
Journalist, “El Tiempo de Durango” – Durango, Mexico

Join us in demanding justice for crime reporter José Bladimir Antuna Garcían, 39, who was found murdered on 2 November 2009 after he was ambushed by five armed men in the Mexican city of Durango on his way to work. Attached to his body was a note reading, “This happened to me for giving information to the military and for writing too much.” Antuna had been investigating corruption and police crime and had been receiving threatening calls, some from the powerful drug cartel Los Zetas. He reported the threats to the state attorney general’s office; they were never followed up.

Take action and send a letter to the authorities demanding an immediate and open investigation into this case here

International Day to End Impunity is on 23 November. Until that date, we will reveal a story each day of a journalist, writer or free expression advocate who was killed in the line of duty.

Mexico: Reporter goes missing in Veracruz

Marta Cooper — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:50:33 +0000

Mexican reporter Manuel Gabriel Fonseca Hernández, who covers crime for El Mañanero de Acayucan, a newspaper in the south of Veracruz state, has been reported missing since 19 September. His family says that, on day he disappeared, he had gone out to conduct interviews for a story he was writing for his main newspaper.

“Twitter terrorists” freed in Mexico, charges dropped

Alice Purkiss — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:20:36 +0000

Two people jailed for making “alarmist” posts on Twitter were freed yesterday after four weeks in prison in Mexico. Maria de Jesus Bravo, a local journalist, and maths teacher Gilberto Martinez Vera, had the charges of terrorism and sabotage against them dropped, and they walked free from jail to cheering supporters. The pair sent out Twitter messages regarding an unconfirmed drug attack on a primary school last month, and were accused of terrifying frantic parents. The charges, which can carry prison sentences of up to 30 years imprisonment, were dropped following outrage from human rights activists and free speech advocates.

Mexico: Journalists found dead

Marta Cooper — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:44:34 +0000

The bodies of Marcela Yarce, the founder of a political magazine, and Rocio González, a freelance journalist, have been discovered by joggers in El Mirador park in Iztapalapa, Mexico City. The women’s necks showed strangulation marks and their hands were tied behind their backs, said a spokesman for Mexico City police. Authorities gave no motive for the killings. Yarce founded Contralinea magazine, and González was a freelancer and former reporter for the Televisa television network.

Mexico: missing crime reporter found dead

Marta Cooper — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 10:57:39 +0000

The decapitated body of Yolanda Ordaz, a reporter for regional paper Notiver, has been found in the Mexican city of Veracruz two days after she went missing. Ordaz had reportedly been investigating the 20th June murder of her colleague, columnist Miguel Angel López Velasco, his wife, and son, a photographer with the newspaper. Ordaz was also said to have received death threats in connection to her work. Local authorities, meanwhile have said there are indications her death is related to organised crime, rather than her work as a journalist. According to reports, a note found with the body seems to connect Ordaz’s murder to the López killing. The note read: ”Friends also betray. Sincerely, Carranza.” This may tie the murder to the chief suspect in the López case, identified as former traffic police officer Juan Carlos Carranza.

Mexican journalist receives death threats

Index on Censorship — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 10:49:06 +0000

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.

Mexico: Kidnapped journalist still missing

Index on Censorship — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:55:22 +0000

There has been no news on the whereabouts of Marco Antonio López Ortiz, the news editor of Novedades Acapulco, a daily based in Acapulco, Mexico. He was kidnapped 7 June by a group of men. Ortiz oversaw the paper’s crime reports, but according to his supervisor, had kept stories short and cautious in order not to cross organised crime leaders who routinely target and intimidate Mexican journalists.

Mexico: Missing journalist, Noel Lopez Olguin, found dead

Intern — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 14:50:48 +0000

The body of missing Mexican journalist, Noel Lopez Olguin, was found in Veracruz on 1 June. Lopez, a columnist for a small local newspapers, was kidnapped from his home by two gunmen in March. Throughout his career Lopez was critical of local corruption and newspapers are now distancing themselves from his work for fear of reprisal attacks.