Thread: Police say organized crime behind journalist's death in Mexi

http://www.caller.com/ccct/state_texas_ ... %2C00.html

Police say organized crime behind journalist's death in Mexico
By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press Writer
August 10, 2006

MONTERREY, Mexico- Authorities said Thursday that organized crime was likely behind the killing of a veteran reporter in Chihuahua, a Mexican state across the border from Texas plagued by violent drug mobs.

The body of Enrique Perea Quintanilla, publisher of the magazine Dos Caras, Una Verdad _ or Two Faces, One Truth _ was found Wednesday on a dirt road about 15 kilometers (10 miles) from Chihuahua City, said Eduardo Esparza, a spokesman for the state prosecutor's office.

Perea Quintanilla, 50, was shot on the lower back and left temple and police found two .45-caliber shell casings near the body, Esparza said.

"We have enough elements to consider people linked to organized crime were involved," Esparza said.

Perea Quintanilla was a reporter for more than 20 years and covered the police beat for several newspapers and radio stations in Chihuahua City.

For the past 10 months, he published his biweekly magazine, which featured hard-hitting reports on corrupt government officials and unsolved murders. The latest issue featured an interview with a businessman who claimed he had worked undercover for Chihuahua state authorities gathering intelligence on drug traffickers.

Perea's slaying shocked Chihuahua City reporters who demanded a full investigation and asked for government protection.

"It's worrisome because now you think more about what you're writing," said Lourdes Diaz, a 26-year-old special investigations and police beat reporter for El Diario, where Perea Quintanilla worked until 2004.

On Thursday, Diaz and more than 90 other reporters met with Chihuahua state prosecutor Patricia Gonzalez and state secretary general Fernando Rodriguez to discuss the killing.

The Miami-based Inter American Press Association implored authorities to bring the assailants to justice.

"We energetically condemn this crime and urge the authorities to investigate it thoroughly so that the culprits can be found and brought to justice and the motive can be known," said Gonzalo Marroquin, president of the association's freedom committee.

Media groups say Mexico is one of the most dangerous places in the Western Hemisphere to be a journalist, largely because of their reports on drug traffickers. Since 2004, 10 journalists have been killed, including Perea Quintanilla, and another has disappeared.

ALIPAC Note: We need more American journalists to realize they are reading about their future environment in these reports. If we fail to stop illegal immigration, soon American journalists will come under fire for writing about these crime syndicates.

note and article added to the homepage

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... e&sid=1430

ALIPAC Note: We need more American journalists to realize they are reading about their future environment in these reports. If we fail to stop illegal immigration, soon American journalists will come under fire for writing about these crime syndicates.

I agree. Without a doubt, the press influences almost everyone, especially the educated, to some degree on a daily basis.