Monday
Sep282009
Mexican Drug Cartels Pose Threat To Journalists
Monday, September 28, 2009 at 4:34PM
By Meagan Wiseley - University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News Service
“I was threatened to die because I was trying to do my job”, said Emilio Guiterez Soto, a Mexican journalist who was forced to flee Mexico after threats from the Chihuahuan government over his coverage of corruption in the army. Soto reflected on his journey from the Mexico to the U.S. in a press conference on the dangers drug cartels are presenting to journalists in Mexico hosted by the organization Reporters Without Borders
Soto and his son crossed the border into the U.S. knowing that they would be arrested by immigration officials. Soto spent seven months in a homeland security detention camp, and his son was in a custody for two months.
“I had to be in prison for seven months...and that was better than the situation [I was in] in Chihuahua”, said Soto.
According to a report released by Reporters Without Borders on Monday, Mexico is the most dangerous country for the media in the western hemisphere. Since year 2000, 55 journalists have been killed and eight are still missing.
“The Mexican government is reporting that eighty percent of the arms, or weapons, are coming from the U.S.”, said Jose Luis Sierra, a Mexican investigative reporter who works in the Rio Grande River Valley along the border of Mexico and Texas.
Sierra said, “nearly 70% of the local authorities are corrupted by drug traffickers”, and he believes this violence will not end without federal investments from both Mexico and the U.S.
Reporters Without Borders is urging the U.S. Senate to ratify the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in the Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials, knows as CIFTA.
The future of Emilio Guiterez Soto and his son remains unknown. An immigration hearing is scheduled for March 2010. Soto and Reporters Without Borders are confident that immigration will give them refugee status and allow them to stay in the U.S.
“I was threatened to die because I was trying to do my job”, said Emilio Guiterez Soto, a Mexican journalist who was forced to flee Mexico after threats from the Chihuahuan government over his coverage of corruption in the army. Soto reflected on his journey from the Mexico to the U.S. in a press conference on the dangers drug cartels are presenting to journalists in Mexico hosted by the organization Reporters Without Borders
Soto and his son crossed the border into the U.S. knowing that they would be arrested by immigration officials. Soto spent seven months in a homeland security detention camp, and his son was in a custody for two months.
“I had to be in prison for seven months...and that was better than the situation [I was in] in Chihuahua”, said Soto.
According to a report released by Reporters Without Borders on Monday, Mexico is the most dangerous country for the media in the western hemisphere. Since year 2000, 55 journalists have been killed and eight are still missing.
“The Mexican government is reporting that eighty percent of the arms, or weapons, are coming from the U.S.”, said Jose Luis Sierra, a Mexican investigative reporter who works in the Rio Grande River Valley along the border of Mexico and Texas.
Sierra said, “nearly 70% of the local authorities are corrupted by drug traffickers”, and he believes this violence will not end without federal investments from both Mexico and the U.S.
Reporters Without Borders is urging the U.S. Senate to ratify the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in the Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials, knows as CIFTA.
The future of Emilio Guiterez Soto and his son remains unknown. An immigration hearing is scheduled for March 2010. Soto and Reporters Without Borders are confident that immigration will give them refugee status and allow them to stay in the U.S.
Media Restrictions Along Gulf Coast Indicative Of National Press Issues, Free Press Advocate Says
By Brandon Kosters - Talk Radio News Service
Clothilde Le Coz, the Washington Director of Reporters Without Borders, told Talk Radio News that it’s problematic that the Coast Guard has imposed rules that limit press access to Deepwater Horizon response operations, but that this “kind of decision happens in a broad context for the media” often, indicating that “the U.S. [is] not that transparent.”
Le Coz said that photographers are “the ones who are the most targeted by [this] kind of restriction,” and cited the example of White house photographers, who she said “have been boycotting certain meetings because they have faced too much restrictions on their work.”
“It’s another attempt to constrain the reporters on a certain level of information.”
The rules imposed by the Coast Guard prohibit anyone from coming with 65 feet of booms and response operations. Violators could be fined $40,000 and charged with a felony. Reporters and photographers must get permission from the Coast Guard to gain access to restricted areas.
The Coast Guard claims that it is trying to protect the safety of response workers, but many journalists believe that this is a move to limit press coverage of the disaster.