Pubdate: Sat, 14 Jul 2012
Source: Kamloops Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Kamloops Daily News
Contact:  http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/679

DRUG CARTELS WINNING IN MEXICO

If you believe that a strong and independent press if vital to any 
properly functioning democracy (and it is), then recent events 
involving drug cartels and their impact on Mexican newspapers are 
cause for grave concern.

In the northern Mexico border city of Nuevo Laredo, the El Manana 
newspaper recently informed readers that it will no longer cover 
drug-gang violence as a result of repeated grenade attacks on its offices.

"We ask for the public's comprehension and will refrain, for as long 
as needed, from publishing any information related to the violent 
disputes our city and other regions of the country are suffering," 
the paper said in an editorial.

The newspaper said it was forced to make the unusually public 
announcement to protect its employees from violent attacks, 
kidnappings and murders.

Earlier in the week, another newspaper - the El Norte - was the 
target of grenade attacks and gunfire, although it has not yet 
promised to end coverage of the drug wars.

The El Manana announcement represents another victory for the drug 
cartels in the escalating atmosphere of violence in Mexico, one that 
Enrique Pena Nieto, the nation's next president, has promised to make 
a top priority for his administration.

While one of his campaign promises was to create a special 
paramilitary police force to crack down on gangs, critics say Pena 
Nieto lacks an overall plan to tackle the problem. And they charge 
that any attempt to set up the paramilitary force will only serve to 
weaken the armed forces by sapping experienced troops from where they 
are already badly needed.

Adding to the crime-fighting challenge is the political reality that 
Pena Nieto must work with the opposition if he wants to get major 
reforms passed that will enable him to make much of an impact on the gangs.

Mexico is one of the most dangerous places on the planet for 
journalists. An estimated 81 reporters have been killed and 16 
kidnapped since 2000, according to Mexico's human rights commission.

But in a nation where corruption runs rampant and violence is more 
the norm than the exception, many of the murders and kidnappings go 
uninvestigated and are rarely - if ever - solved.

Without an effective press and freedom of expression, which is 
guaranteed under Mexico's constitution, the people lack the vital 
information needed to understand and successfully combat the gangs 
that threaten the country's future and standing in the world.

Unless the new president can manage to regain control of his own 
country, Mexico's slide into anarchy is bound to continue. And who 
will report on that?
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom