Mexico's press freedom on trial
February 7, 2008

Mexico is not the most dangerous country for journalists, other nations compete for that dubious distinction. But Mexican reporters do risk their lives when they cover the nation's drug traffickers. And some of them face intimidation from government officials unhappy with their work. The World's Lorne Matalon reports on one case in the latter category that could end up before the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
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Matalon: Even in a country where constraints on press freedom are taken for granted, the case of journalist Lydia Cacho has jolted many Mexicans.

"All of a sudden I saw these guys with guns coming towards me. I thought they were going to kill me." - Lydia Cacho"All of a sudden I saw these guys with guns coming towards me. I thought they were going to kill me." - Lydia Cacho

Matalon: Cacho lives in Cancún. Just before Christmas in 2005, she was forced into a car in broad daylight. Though she lives in Cancún, in the state of Quintana Roo, the men who took Cacho were police from the state of Puebla … with no jurisdiction in Quintana Roo.

Cacho: "They took me out of the car in the middle of the night in front of the ocean, in Campeche. And they kept asking me if I knew how to swim. They kept telling me that I should go jump in the ocean. They put the gun inside my mouth. They kept touching me. It was torture."

Matalon: Cacho had written a best-selling book called "The Demons of Eden," an investigation into child pornography and the smuggling of minors as sex slaves into Cancún. Cacho interviewed children and detailed their sexual abuse by two men, one of whom, Succar Kuri, sits in a maximum-security jail where he maintains his innocence. The other man, Kuri’s friend Kamil Nacif, has never been charged. But that's not the part of the story that's angered Mexicans.

It's a series of phone calls, recorded by Nacif’s wife. In one call, Nacif asks Kuri to deliver an underage girl for a fee of 2000 dollars. In another call, Nacif is speaking with the governor of Puebla, Mario MarÃ*n. It is evident that MarÃ*n ordered his police to go to Cancún and bring the journalist, Lydia Cacho to Puebla. First the Nacif tells the governor that for what he did, the governor is "the hero of this movie."

Matalon: A Supreme Court investigation revealed Nacif has extensive textile interests in Puebla and was a political contributor to the governor. Governor MarÃ*n then replies, revealing he ordered Lydia Cacho taken to jail for defaming his friend, Nacif.

Mario MarÃ*nMario MarÃ*n

Matalon: The governor tells Nacif," I put that woman in her place. I told her that here in Puebla, we respect the law. There's no impunity. Whoever commits a crime is a felon so she should not play the victim to try and get publicity." The governor says the tapes are a fabrication. Lydia Cacho says the experience was meant to silence her.

Cacho: "I was in jail. They treated me like I was the biggest criminal. They made me undress. I mean they humiliated me in jail. They made sure that they could break me down. They wanted to break me down and I noticed that.â€