IAPA condemns attack against Mexican newspaper

On February 16, at 7:45 p.m., two masked and armed suspects entered the headquarters of El Mañana newspaper, in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. According to eye witnesses, the unidentified men forced entry, fired shots at the reception desk, and moved towards the newsroom where they shouted out insults and threats and launched a grenade.  Five shots were fired in the attack, causing damage, leaving reporter Jaime Orozco Trey seriously injured, and leaving the newspaper employees in shock. 

IAPA President Diana Daniels and the chairman of the Press Freedom Committee, Gonzalo Marroquín, in a letter sent to Mexican President Vicente Fox, Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca, and Governor of Tamaulipas, Eugenio Javier Hernández Flores, asked that strong measures be taken given the unusual circumstances of this attack.

Daniels, vice president of The Washington Post Company and Marroquín, editor of the Guatemalan daily, Prensa Libre, reminded that during an IAPA seminar in Nuevo Laredo on January 26-27, the more than 100 participants expressed in the conclusions their “concern over the inability of officials, from different levels of government, to combat the growth of organized crime in the country, on the border, and in the Nuevo Laredo area, in particular,” in combating violence that affects the media and journalists.

 Following is the complete text of the letter to President Fox:

“Dear Mr. President:

“The Inter American Press Association and its membership would like to express its deepest condemnation of the attack against El Mañana newspaper in Nuevo Laredo that occurred last night during which one of its journalists was seriously injured.  This has shaken the foundation of press freedom in your country, and we demand that stronger measures and efforts be made so that this attack does not go unpunished.

“We trust that the federal government will directly intervene since this is an unusual attack against journalists and the media in Mexico in which a group of masked individuals entered the newspaper headquarters and opened fire at close range in the middle of the newsroom, shooting off grenades, and shouting out insults and threats.

“Two weeks ago, our organization held a conference titled “Drug Trafficking: Investigating and Reporting,” in which more than 120 journalists, editors, and newspaper publishers, mainly from northern Mexico, expressed that one of the most devastating aspects of the drug war is the silencing of any publication that denounces these illegal activities.  Retaliations by organized crime groups, according to statements made during this event, is causing more self-censorship by the media and journalists that is a detriment to freedom of the press, and even worse, undermines the public’s right to information.

“Conference participants shared their experiences and knowledge and arrived at several conclusions supporting the “concern over the inability of officials, from different levels of government, to combat the growth of organized crime in the country, on the border, and in the Nuevo Laredo area, in particular.”

“They also agreed to demand that the Mexican government, through its respective branches, move more aggressively in solving cases and serve justice more quickly and efficiently in prosecuting crimes against journalists, and in the creation of new laws that protect freedom of the press and expression as tools for the development of society.

“Mr. President, we believe that the characteristics of this unusual attack against staff and management of El Mañana should mark a critical juncture in the fight against organized crime and that the federal and state governments take on the necessary tools to guarantee freedom of the press and of expression”.

The Inter American Press Association, made up of more than 1,300 newspapers throughout the Western Hemisphere, is a leading advocate of freedom of the press in the Americas, whatever the ideological makeup of each country.  

For further information call (305)634-2465 or e- mail [email protected]

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