MEXICO CITY-More than 100 journalists and supporters gathered Friday - - the day after three photographers were found murdered in the eastern port city of Veracruz - to call for more protections for journalists covering Mexico's complex and deadly drug war. State officials confirmed Thursday that the bodies of photographers Guillermo Luna and Gabriel Huge, who worked for the Notiver local newspaper, were found dismembered, with evidence of torture. Irasema Becerra, described as Luna's girlfriend, and Esteban Rodriguez, a former journalist working as a welder, were found alongside them, a later statement said. [continues 614 words]
VALLE DE JUAREZ, MEXICO-Driving slowly down the empty streets of Guadalupe, former resident Marycarmen Madrid points to scorched and crumbling houses, scattered with the personal effects of former residents. She identifies some of the hundreds killed, terrorized or forced into leaving this town on the U.S. border. Her family's home was burned down last year, along with dozens of others, in the campaign of extreme violence and terror that has gripped the region. Known locally as the Valle de Juarez, this was once a sleepy agricultural hub an hour east of Ciudad Juarez. Then, in 2008, the valley exploded as it became a battlefield in Mexico's drug wars, which have claimed more than 50,000 lives. [continues 661 words]
