Mexico

2009

  

Michoacán journalists under siege with nowhere to turn

David Silva, the husband of abducted reporter María Esther Aguilar Cansimbe, ran his hand roughly across his forehead twice, then held his face, looked down, and said, “Every night it’s the same until 2 or 4 in the morning, waiting for the phone call, listening for the car to stop on the street. Then if…

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Raul Estrella, a photographer with El Universal, took these photos of gunmen, believed to be government agents, rushing toward protesters and journalists on the outskirts of Oaxaca on October 27, 2006. Brad Will, working near Estrella, was killed by gunfire that witnesses said appeared to have come from the direction of the gunmen. (El Universal/Raul Estrella)

Brad Will killing unresolved three years on

Three years ago today, an independent journalist named Bradley Roland Will was killed in Mexico while reporting on a heated protest movement in the capital city of the southern state of Oaxaca. Today, the crime remains unresolved. A man from Oaxaca, Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno, who many close followers of the case believe is innocent,…

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CPJ
Natalya Estemirova (AP)

A memorial to killed journalists, a call to action

We’ve launched a new section of our Web site, and we hope you take a few minutes to read some of its pages. There is one, for example, on Russian reporter Natalya Estemirova, who dared to examine human rights crimes in Chechnya. Another is devoted to Francisco Javier Ortiz Franco, a Tijuana newspaper editor who…

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Second investigator on murder case killed in Mexico

For the second time in less than a month, the lead federal investigator in the case of a journalist murdered in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, has been shot and killed in the streets of that city, according to news accounts. The second investigator, Pablo Pasillas Fong, was shot 13 times on August 26, according to the…

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Lydia Cacho (CPJ)

Cacho, a top Mexican reporter, describes a life under threat

A month ago I sat next to a cop, turned on my computer, and opened my blog. The threats were there: “My dear lydia cacho get ready to be found soon with your throat slit, your pretty head will be left outside your apartment if you think you are so brave bye.”

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Mexican officer’s murder reinforces impunity

In June, CPJ traveled to Ciudad Juárez to report on the extraordinary challenges that Mexican reporters face in covering the drug trade. As CPJ’s Mike O’Connor noted in his report, self-censorship is rife and many critical stories are uncovered. The primary reason is impunity: Those who kill or threaten journalists know there is almost no…

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AP

In Brad Will killing, report fuels questions, controversy

On July 26, the following headline appeared in Mexico’s daily Milenio newspaper: “Canada: Will assassinated at point-blank range.” Soon, similar headlines followed. The stories focused on a recent report by three Canadian investigators that sustains conclusions made by the Mexican authorities in the case of Bradley Roland Will, left, a U.S. video-journalist and activist killed…

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Even after self-censoring, a reporter is murdered in Mexico

The large family of Mexican radio anchorman Juan Martínez Gil gathered around his coffin in the intense tropical heat of Acapulco’s main cemetery on Thursday. His brother Javier, who identified his badly beaten body on Tuesday, was the least consolable. He leaned across the coffin, his tears flowing down his face onto the dark metal. “Juanito, you…

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Mayor denies any link to Mexican journalist’s murder

Santa María El Oro Mayor Martín Silvestre Herrera denied any connection to Sunday’s murder of local journalist Carlos Ortega Samper in the northern Durango state, according to Mexican press reports. 

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Simon and Lauría on free expression in Mexico

CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon and Senior Program Coordinator Carlos Lauría co-authored an op-ed that appeared today in the Spanish-language El Universal, a national paper based in Mexico City. The piece examines the importance of protecting freedom of expression in Mexico in light of increased violence and U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent meeting with counterpart Felipe Calderón.

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2009