Pubdate: Thu, 09 Feb 2006
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2006 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Author: James Pinkerton

On The Border

NO END TO 'NUEVO LAREDO NIGHTMARE'

Brazen Assault On Newspaper Is Part Of Resurgence In Drug Violence

NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO - Truckloads of federal police guarded the 
entrances Wednesday to El Manana, this city's leading newspaper.

It was the only way the Mexican government could ensure that the 
embattled newspaper would publish after editorial offices were shot 
up Monday night by intruders who fired more than 60 rounds and hurled 
a grenade outside the managing editor's office. A veteran police 
reporter remained in critical condition Wednesday night, and friends 
feared his wounds may leave him paralyzed.

After three years of violence between Mexico's largest drug cartels, 
the residents of Nuevo Laredo are angry, weary and frightened. The 
killings, kidnappings, beatings and death threats have taken a 
horrific toll. Tourism is in a deep decline, the city police force is 
in a shambles after a purge of corrupt officers, and local businesses 
are hurting, merchants say.

The assault on the newspaper followed another brazen attack near the 
city police station last week: Gunmen tried to kill homicide suspects 
who were being taken to jail. And the authorities seemed powerless to 
stop them.

"People are becoming real concerned that narco-traffickers can do 
whatever they want, whenever they want, to whomever they want," said 
Michael Yoder, the U.S. consul in Nuevo Laredo. "That's a hard way to live."

Yoder said the violence had seemed to taper off during the last three 
months of 2005, perhaps signaling "an end to the Nuevo Laredo 
nightmare." But at least 22 gangland-style slayings in January proved 
the warring drug cartels had simply paused to reload.

And though no one has claimed responsibility for Monday's attack, 
Yoder said he thinks traffickers are trying to muzzle the newspaper's 
reporting on the drug war.

If that is the case, it's working.

Papers Walk Gingerly

On Tuesday, and again Wednesday, the owners of El Manana said they 
planned to drastically cut back coverage of the drug trade.

Already, veteran reporters in the town say, most journalists exercise 
extreme caution when reporting on organized crime.

"It's not just now. It's been like this for a while," said a 
50-year-old reporter, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of 
retribution. "The work we do is limited. We can't mention the names 
of people or cartels. It's prohibited."

If a reporter's account is too detailed, his editors usually cut out 
the references to cartels and suspects, he said.

"We are in the hands of the narcos, and we have to acknowledge that," 
the reporter said. "They are the ones who are setting the conditions. 
They make up the rules. They run things."

Uncooperative or unknowing journalists are sometimes kidnapped, held 
briefly and threatened until they finally understand the "rules," 
journalists say. Then they are released and often do not report their 
harrowing experience to the police.

Marco Villarreal, the longtime publisher of El Diario, another Nuevo 
Laredo newspaper, said the attack on El Manana underscores "the 
impunity that the delinquents enjoy."

"As journalists," he said, "we are all wounded and we stand in 
solidarity with our colleagues at the aggrieved newspaper."

The injured reporter, Jaime Orozco Tey, who was shot five times, had 
just celebrated his 40th birthday on Monday.

He started at El Diario in 1984, and later met his wife, Lily, there.

"She was a receptionist and they met here and got married," said 
Villarreal, who added that the couple has two young daughters.

"Jaime is a good man, a very good journalist, and he is a good 
person," Villarreal said. "He has a bullet lodged in his spinal 
column, and the doctors say he could remain in a wheelchair if he recovers."

Hospital Guarded

A few blocks from El Manana, heavily armed police guarded San Jose 
Hospital where Orozco was in intensive care.

Daniel Rosas, El Manana's managing editor, said Orozco was an 
experienced police reporter who was assigned to the night shift to 
help with the paper's coverage of violence in the city.

"I've known him for many years. He is a responsible, serious 
reporter," Rosas said.

On Wednesday, Mexico's Attorney General's Office said it would 
appoint a special prosecutor to investigate violence against journalists.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman