Don't let cartels win war
Jun. 13, 2007 12:00 AM

After Iraq, the most dangerous place in the world for news reporters last year was Mexico, according to the watchdog group Reporters Without Borders.

And among the most dangerous places in Mexico for reporters? Mexican cities and towns flush up against the Arizona border.

Several weeks ago, we threw a spotlight on the dangers facing Mexican authorities as they battle the increasingly violent and increasingly well-armed drug cartels in their midst. But the war does not end with those in uniform.

As The Arizona Republic's Chris Hawley and Sean Holstege reported on June 8, the Fourth Estate is under siege in Mexico, too. And, in many respects, it is a battle the cartels appear to be winning.

Hawley and Holstege found at least 30 incidents of outright attacks, threats and other efforts to silence Mexican journalists, including one in which two hand grenades exploded in April outside the doors of Cambio Sonora, a newspaper owned by one of Mexico's largest chains, Oranización Editorial Mexicana. The chain has shut down the Sonoran newspaper as a result.

Reporters are being kidnapped and killed. At the same time as the grenade attacks, reporter Saul Martinez of the Interdiario newspaper in Agua Prieta, which is immediately across the border from Douglas, was shot dead.

The mayhem is having its intended effect. Many newspapers that continue to publish are steering away from crime stories, especially stories involving the drug cartels.

The violence against newspapers has not erupted out of the blue. The government of President Felipe Calderón is fighting a determined war against the cartels, a war that previous Mexican administrations chose not to wage.

Ironically, the Mexican newspapers and electronic media now being swept up in the war have been enjoying unprecedented freedom from government interference in recent years. Indeed, that may be part of the reason the cartels are targeting them now. A bold, energetic and free press is often a primary target for the oppressive and the powerful, whether they be criminals or federal officials.

The violence against Mexican journalists may be part of a disturbing Latin American trend. The attacks come at the same time Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez shut down one of the largest privately run television stations in his country. Chavez has threatened the same fate for other media that fail to toe his line of fealty to the state.

It is not inconceivable that the violence will seep north into Arizona. The cartels are under siege not only from Calderón's federales but also from an unprecedented level of cooperation from police in this country. If the criminals continue to see success in silencing Mexican media, it may be a matter of time before they start trying to intimidate media in the U.S. as well.

The war against the drug cartels is not a Mexican war. It is spawned by the insatiable market for illegal drugs in the United States. And the growing armies of the cartels are armed with sophisticated weaponry, much of it purchased in the U.S.

The assault against Mexican journalists, part and parcel to the free-ranging drug war, is a U.S. fight too.

The cartels know what Venezuela's Chavez knows: Control the media and half the battle already is won.


http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... d1-13.html