PEN writers tell Mexican government to act against murderers of journalists. A delegation of PEN International has called for "immediate and definitive action" to end the killings of journalists in Mexico.
Calling the mounting death toll "an assault on the dignity and rights of all Mexicans and a blight on Mexico's reputation internationally," PEN International president John Ralston Saul said: "Our message is simple: the violence must stop. " He was speaking at a press conference in Mexico City at the end of a five-day mission to Mexico by a delegation of 10 PEN members. Saul said the group came away from meetings with Mexican government officials "disappointed with the gap between rhetoric and action. " Mexico's Imperiled Journalists. When you scan Reporters Without Borders's Press Freedom Index—as I happened to late yesterday, on World Press Freedom Day—the results are mostly expected: Eritrea and North Korea are the least free; Finland and Norway are the most.
But seeing Mexico fall so low—number 149 of 179 countries—is not only shocking but must be one of the great tragedies for media in the last decade. Mexico's press is incredibly robust, critical, and investigative. The country's proud literary tradition is infused with the reportage of news—the writing, reporting and editing are superb. Newspapers are among the best in Latin America, as are magazines such as Nexos and Proceso, which one could argue offer far more comprehensive news analysis that most US news sources. So the lack of freedom that has pushed Mexico so low boils down to one word: safety. But the news gets worse: Almost none of these journalists' murders are ever investigated, let alone solved. Killings Curb Reporting of Mexican Crime Wave. Journalist from Mexican news magazine found dead. Police and residents outside Regina Martínez's house in the Felipe Carrillo neighbourhood in Xalapa.
Photograph: Reuters A correspondent for the Mexican news magazine Proceso has been found dead inside her home in Veracruz state. Authorities believe the journalist, who often wrote about drug trafficking, was murdered. Tiny Mexican newspaper leads the fight for truth amid the drugs war. Police attack journalists in Mexico. The breakdown of law and order in certain Mexican cities means that journalists can not only not count on police protection but are also coming under attack from police officers.
The latest example of police assaults on reporters happened last Friday, 3 February, in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. Joel González, a reporter with El Diario, was arrested and beaten by officers while attempting to report on the arbitrary arrest of a citizen in front of the newspaper's offices. He has since filed a complaint with the attorney general for abuse by the authorities.
El Diario also reported that on 31 January, police threatened and attacked reporters trying to photograph and film a police search of a home where three people were arrested and drugs and arms were seized. The day before, police pointed their rifles at two journalists from the newspaper Norte, forcing them to delete photos they had taken.
Mexico's drug war visualised. Mexico's Drug War: 50,000 Dead in 6 Years - In Focus. Since Mexico's President Felipe Calderón began an all-out assault on drug cartels in 2006, more than 50,000 people have lost their lives across the country in a nearly-continuous string of shootouts, bombings, and ever-bloodier murders.
Just last weekend, 49 decapitated bodies were reportedly discovered on a highway in northern Mexico. The New York Times reports on an increasing numbness and apathy among Mexicans after years of worsening carnage, about which they've been able to do virtually nothing. Gathered here is a collection of recent photographs from Mexico's drug war and the people so horribly affected by it. [44 photos] Warning: All images in this entry are shown in full. There are many dead bodies; the photographs are graphic and stark. Use j/k keys or ←/→ to navigate Choose: A masked Mexican soldier patrols the streets of Veracruz, on October 10, 2011.
How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions. Crime, Drugs, and Politics in Guadalajara, Mexico. At the Guadalajara International Book Fair, Enrique Peña Nieto, who is forty-five, boyishly handsome, and generally expected to be the next President of Mexico, was asked to name three books that had influenced him.
He mentioned the Bible, or, at least, “some parts” (unspecified), and “The Eagle’s Throne,” a Carlos Fuentes novel (though he named the historian Enrique Krauze as the author). And, for a few excruciating minutes, that was all he could come up with. Special Report: Mexico's Zetas rewrite drug war in blood. Mexico drug wars: 'the majority of the weapons used by the cartels are coming from the US' - video. The US gun smugglers recruited by one of Mexico's most brutal cartels. It was nothing more than a routine inspection for federal agents.
But as they browsed the records of Carter's Country gun shop in Houston, investigators picked up on a series of big sales. For cash. Federal agents were alerted not only by the number of guns involved – sometimes a dozen at a time – but the type. Time and again buyers walked out of Carter's Country clutching assault rifles, semi-automatic pistols with armour-piercing bullets and powerful sniper rifles accurate to more than a mile. Mexican gang member sentenced to life in U.S. prison for murders. US court jails Mexican drug gangster blamed for 1,500 hits. A top Mexican drug gangster of the Juárez cartel who is blamed for more than 1,500 killings including that of a US consulate employee has been sentenced to life in prison by an American court.
Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez pleaded guilty in El Paso district court to 11 counts that included conspiracy, racketeering and murder. Judge Kathleen Cardone gave Acosta seven concurrent life terms, three additional consecutive life terms and 20 years in federal prison. Acosta allegedly headed La Linea, the Juárez cartel's enforcement arm. Mexico's war on drugs: stories from the front line - interactive.
Killing of Sonora police chief stirs alarm. By Daniel Gonzalez - May. 24, 2012 11:22 PM The Republic | azcentral.com The killing of the police chief in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, last weekend has alarmed officials on both sides of the U.S.
-Mexican border and raised fears that the vicious drug-cartel violence that has plagued other regions may be spreading to an area that, for the most part, has been spared the bloodshed. Luis Fredy Rodriguez Soqui, 40, a former federal prosecutor who became director of public safety two years ago, was killed days before the city was scheduled to be recognized as one of the safest in Sonora, the state south of Arizona. He is the first police chief killed in Sonora in recent memory, Mexican officials said.
"Obviously, this is some violence that hits pretty close to home," Yuma Police Chief John Lekan said. San Luis Rio Colorado is just across the border from San Luis, Ariz., and about 26 miles south of Yuma. As of Thursday, no one had been arrested. Vow to maintain peace Concerns rekindled. Cracking the Mexican Cartels. Mexico Debates Compensation for Drug War Victims. With just months left until the end of his term as President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón is expected to heed calls from civil society and human rights groups and propose a law that could compensate tens of thousands who have suffered in the latest iteration of the drug war.
Somewhere between 47,000 and 63,000 people have died in the fight against organized crime since 2006, when Calderón took office. And that’s just a sliver of the total number of people impacted by the violence: cases of torture, kidnapping, extortion, robbery, and other violent crime have also seen a rise in the last half-decade. The proposed legislation is expected to be geared toward victims of crime, for example assault, robbery, kidnapping. For those who meet the requirements (the details of which are not yet clear), it imagines some monetary compensation from a joint government and donor-funded endowment.
Names and details of each instance would also be recorded in an official catalog. The World Factbook. Mexico. Vázquez Mota and the 2012 Mexican Election. Last Sunday, Mexico's incumbent National Action Party (PAN) chose its presidential candidate: Josefina Vázquez Mota, who won the party's primary to become the first female presidential candidate from a major political party in Mexican history. But Vázquez Mota's triumph was not a coup just because of her gender. She got the PAN nod (only party members actually vote in Mexican primaries), over President Felipe Calderón's handpicked candidate, Ernesto Cordero. And Vázquez Mota's victory was decisive -- she took 55 percent of the vote to Cordero's 38 percent.
Despite their differences, President Calderón, her recent rivals, and the party quickly rallied behind her. In the presidential election, which is set for July 1, Vázquez Mota will compete in a three-way race. To continue reading, please log in. Don't have an account? Register Register now to get three articles each month. As a subscriber, you get unrestricted access to ForeignAffairs.com.
Register for free to continue reading. Mexican conservatives revamp presidential bid. Presidential nominee resurrects a holy ghost of Mexico's past. Josefina Vázquez Mota speaks after the National Action party nominated her to be its presidential candidate. Photograph: Sashenka Gutierrez/EPA The triumph of Josefina Vázquez Mota in Sunday's primary election puts the final piece in place for Mexico's presidential elections, set for 1 July.
The three main coalitions now each have their presidential candidates. U.S. Braces for Mexican Shift in Drug War Focus. Pedro Pardo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Mexican soldiers standing by the site where three dismembered bodies linked to drug violence were found in Acapulco in March. The candidates, while vowing to continue to fight drug trafficking, say they intend to eventually withdraw the Mexican Army from the drug fight. They are concerned that it has proved unfit for police work and has contributed to the high death toll, which has exceeded 50,000 since the departing president, Felipe Calderón, made the military a cornerstone of his battle against drug traffickers more than five years ago. Business as usual in Mexico? By Carlos Ramirez Allegations that WalMart-Mexico's executives bribed local officials to speed up permitting for new stores highlight the issues of corruption in Mexico, but will have little impact.
In the short term, the Mexican federal government has announced an investigation regarding the federal permits granted to the retailer. But that seems to be a political response to the growing criticism of inaction by the authorities rather than a serious case against the company. Because the allegations of wrongdoing relate to local-level permitting, any federal investigation will likely turn up little, if anything, of note. Furthermore, with the present federal administration entering its last few months, the investigation will probably fail to reach any meaningful result before its November 30 deadline.
In reality, federal officials are legally constrained from pursuing the allegations. A formal investigation at the state and/or municipal levels is even less likely. Foreign Affairs Focus On: The Drug War in Mexico With Robert C. Bonner. What Mexico's Election Means for the Drug War. A police officer on patrol in Guadalupe. (Courtesy Reuters) U.S. -Mexico security cooperation has been strikingly close and effective during the tenure of Mexican President Felipe Calderón. The Cartel Crackdown. After a shootout in Monterrey, which has become one of Mexico's most violent cities during a turf war between rival drug cartels. (Courtesy Reuters) In July, Mexico will elect a new president to replace Felipe Calderón.
Deals with the devil. "The Putinization of Mexico" by Denise Dresser. Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space. Fast Track - Can Mexico re-brand itself? "The Other Mexico" by Andres Velasco. Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space. Mexicans protest against 'media bias' Read a joint statement about this story from the Guardian and Televisa here. Thousands attended a demonstration on Sunday against leading Mexican presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto, alleging mass media bias in his favour.