Posts Tagged ‘Mexico’
June 13th, 2011
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.
June 6th, 2011
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.
March 30th, 2011
Two journalists, José Luis Cerda Meléndez and Luis Emanuel Ruíz Carrillo, have been
murdered in the northern state of Nuevo León. Cerda was a television host on national channel Televisa, which has been subjected to several armed
attacks. Ruíz was a reporter for a daily newspaper in Coahuila. Ruíz was visiting the area to interview Cerda. They were both
forced into a car outside the Televisa station, along with Juan Roberto Gómez, Ruíz’s cousin . The bodies of Ruíz and Cerda were
discovered the next day by the freeway, accompanied by a note which read: “Stop co-operating with Los Zetas. Signed DCG. Greetings architect No. 1”. Two criminals have now allegedly
stolen Cerda’s body. The police have
declined to intervene.
March 29th, 2011
Reporter Noel Lopez Olguin has gone
missing in Veracruz state. The Head of the Veracruz State Commission for the Defence of Journalists claims that no one has heard from him since 8 May. He travelled to the town of Soteapan in response to a telephone call. His car was found on the road to Soteapan, but his whereabouts remain unknown.
Veracruz is often used as a transit point for drug cartels trafficking drugs to the USA. Paramilitary group
Los Zetas is very active in the region, and kidnappings occur frequently.
March 14th, 2011
Mexican prosecutors have decided to
reopen the
investigation into 21 deaths during protests against the Oaxaca state government in 2006. Amongst the dead was the American independent journalist Bradley Will, who was
killed whilst filming a clash between the protesters. The only suspect was released in 2010 because there was insufficient evidence to convict him.
February 16th, 2011
Mexican radio station MVS has
reinstated Carmen Aristegui, the journalist
fired last week after
speculating about President Felipe Calderon’s alleged drinking problem. The dismissal provoked widespread
debate about freedom of expression in Mexico. MVS’s decision to rehire her was based on discussions with Aristegui - as well as public discussion about her radio show, the station said.
February 14th, 2011
On 9 February, two separate
attacks were launched on a TV station and a radio station in Coahuila. Technician Rodolfo Ochoa was
killed in the shooting at TV station Canal 9. The station stopped broadcasting temporarily, but programming has now resumed. Radio station Radiorama has not aired since the
attack, which damaged their equipment. In a further incident, the distributor of El Norte and Metro newspapers was
kidnapped in Tamaulipas. His captors held him at gunpoint and ordered him to stop distributing the newspapers. They freed him after setting light to the copies he had been delivering. There has been an
increase in armed attacks on Mexican media organisations since early 2010.
February 3rd, 2011
Marbiel Hernandez, a distributor of El Diario and the evening paper PM was
shot dead in Ciudad Juarez on 31 January. The suspected murderer, Ramses Robles Morales, is a member of drug trafficking group La Linea. He has been detained by police and admitted to receiving US$25o for carrying out the murder.
