Silence or Death in Mexico’s Press Crime, Violence, and Corruption Are Destroying the Country’s Journalism A special report of the Committee to Protect Journalists Issued September 2010 Founded in 1981, the Committee to Protect Journalists responds to attacks on the press worldwide. CPJ documents hundreds of cases every year and takes action on behalf of journalists and news organizations without regard to political ideology. To maintain its independence, CPJ accepts no government funding. CPJ is funded entirely by private contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations. Silence or Death in Mexico’s Press: cover photo credits: Crime, Violence, and Corruption Are Destroying the Top: Soldiers patrol the dangerous streets of Reynosa. Country’s Journalism (AP/Alexandre Meneghini) Bottom: A photographer covers a crime scene in Editorial Director: Bill Sweeney Tijuana. (AP/Guillermo Arias) Senior Editor: Lauren Wolfe Back cover: Journalists call for justice in the murder of Designer: John Emerson Acapulco reporter Amado Ramírez Dillanes. Copy Editor: Lew Serviss (AFP/Cecilia del Olmo) Proofreader: Shazdeh Omari © 2010 Committee to Protect Journalists, New York Printed by United Book Press in the United States of All rights reserved. America. honorary co-chairman directors Walter Cronkite (1916-2009) Andrew Alexander Michael Massing Franz Allina Geraldine Fabrikant Metz honorary co-chairman Christiane Amanpour Victor Navasky Terry Anderson Dean Baquet Andres Oppenheimer Kathleen Carroll Burl Osborne chairman Rajiv Chandrasekaran Clarence Page Paul E. Steiger Sheila Coronel Norman Pearlstine Josh Friedman Ahmed Rashid executive director Anne Garrels Dan Rather Joel Simon James C. Goodale Gene Roberts Cheryl Gould María Teresa Ronderos advisory board Charlayne Hunter-Gault Sandra Mims Rowe Tom Brokaw Gwen Ifill Diane Sawyer Steven L. Isenberg Jane Kramer David Schlesinger Anthony Lewis David Laventhol Paul C. Tash Charles L. Overby Lara Logan Mark Whitaker Erwin Potts Rebecca MacKinnon Brian Williams John Seigenthaler David Marash Matthew Winkler Kati Marton Silence or Death in Mexico’s Press About This Report This report was researched and written byCarlos Juárez reporter Luis Horacio Nájera. Colombian Lauría, CPJ senior program coordinator for the journalist and CPJ board member María Teresa Americas, and Mike O’Connor, CPJ’s representative Ronderos wrote “How Colombian Media Met in Mexico. Monica Campbell, a freelance journalist Dangerous Times,” the sidebar to Chapter 4. “In and former CPJ Mexico representative, and José Tijuana, an Unlikely Anniversary,” the sidebar to Barbeito, CPJ’s research associate for the Americas, Chapter 5, was written by Adela Navarro Bello, provided additional reporting. editor of the newsweekly Zeta. More complete author information accompanies each piece. CPJ research has identified Mexico as one of the deadliest countries in the world for the press and one CPJ wishes to acknowledge the important research of the worst nations in solving crimes against journal- of the Inter American Press Association, and the ists. CPJ researchers have traveled the breadth of the contributions of Ricardo Trotti, its press freedom country over the course of four years, interviewing director and Press Institute director. We extend dozens of journalists about the dangers of their work special thanks to the families and colleagues of the and the devastating self-censorship that has resulted journalists who have been murdered or have gone from anti-press violence. CPJ delegations have met missing. They graciously gave their time, and their with high-ranking Mexican officials, including Presi- input was invaluable. dent Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, to discuss the grave CPJ is very grateful to the organizations whose problem of impunity in attacks on the press. generous support helped make this report possible. This report examines the murders of 22 journalists They include theOverbrook Foundation, which and three media support workers, along with the funds CPJ’s work in Mexico, and the McCormick disappearances of seven journalists, during the Foundation, which supports our work in the Calderón presidency, which began in December Americas. They also includeBloomberg , whose 2006. The report identifies systemic law enforcement endowment enabled the creation of our International failures and offers potential solutions. Program Network of consultants and reporters based in Mexico and worldwide, and the Oak Foundation, CPJ gratefully acknowledges the vital work of which provides additional support for the network. contributing writers. The Chapter 3 sidebar, “Why I TheJohn S. and James L. Knight Foundation Went Into Exile,” was written by the former Ciudad supports our Global Campaign Against Impunity. • The Committee to Protect Journalists Contents Preface By Joel Simon ...............................................................................................1 1 Summary .........................................................................................................3 2 A Nation in Crisis ......................................................................................5 More than 30 journalists and media workers have been murdered or have vanished since December 2006. As vast self-censorship takes hold, Mexico’s future as a free and democratic society is at risk. An Era of Promises and Fear .............................................................................8 3 Murder in Durango ...............................................................................10 Crime reporter Bladimir Antuna García knew all the cops and crooks in Durango. When he received death threats, state investigators ignored them. When he was murdered, they ignored that as well. Why I Went Into Exile ........................................................................................ 14 4 Cartel City .....................................................................................................15 In Reynosa, the Gulf criminal group controls the government, the police, even the street vendors. But you won’t see that story in the local press. The cartel controls the news media, too. How Colombian Media Met Dangerous Times ............................................19 A Trail of Violent Repression ..........................................................................21 iv Silence or Death in Mexico’s Press 5 A Federal Obligation ...........................................................................23 In its offensive against criminal organizations, the federal government has left a crucial front unaddressed. Attacks on the constitutional right to free expression must be fought at the national level. In Tijuana, An Unlikely Anniversary ..............................................................27 What They Said ................................................................................................. 28 6 Recommendations ...............................................................................29 Appendix I Journalists Murdered .........................................................................31 Capsule reports on journalists and media workers murdered during the tenure of President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa. Appendix II Journalists Missing ...............................................................................41 Capsule reports on journalists who have gone missing during the tenure of President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa. Appendix III CPJ Impunity Index ...............................................................................43 The world’s worst countries in fighting violence against the press. The Committee to Protect Journalists v Preface By Joel Simon Plomo o plata. Lead or silver. It’s a well-worn phrase about printing the names and faces of the country’s in Mexico, one that’s all too familiar to the country’s most powerful cartel leaders. In fact, the journalists journalists. It means, simply, we own you. Take our claimed, the capos loved the attention because plata (slang for money) and publish what we tell you. reports on their ruthlessness stirred fear among their Or we kill you. enemies. The plomo is highly visible. Reporting on the web of corruption that supported the drug trade was another matter. The Bodies of journalists litter the streets in Mexico, cartels made investments in buying the cooperation from Durango to Villahermosa. More than 30 of corrupt police, mayors, governors, soldiers, and journalists have been murdered or have gone missing customs agents, all of whom became integral to their since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderón operations. If you exposed this network and got some Hinojosa came to power. CPJ has confirmed that at official fired, you were disrupting their business. That least eight of these journalists were killed in direct was dangerous, although some brave reporters still reprisal for their work. took the risk. What has been less visible is the plata. Journalists In 2004, I traveled to Tijuana to carry out a don’t generally talk about it, understandably. In this CPJ investigation into the murder of my friend and report, we reveal the culture of bribery and extortion colleague Francisco Ortiz Franco, an editor at the that is producing devastating self-censorship in muckraking newsweekly Zeta. In the course of my Mexico. Journalists in Reynosa confided in CPJ and reporting, I came to understand the new ways in told us the whole story—the threats, the violence, and which rival cartels were using the media to further the