At least one journalist missing in wave of violence in Tamaulipas state

Terrors reigns in the news media in Tamaulipas, a northeastern state that borders Texas, after more violent clashes between drug traffickers and after reports – not all confirmed – of a total of eight journalists being kidnapped or disappearing. The staff of newsrooms refuse to talk for fear of reprisals. “We don’t want to die,” is the typical response. Reporters Without Borders fears that media freedom will not survive the situation in Tamaulipas, which increasingly resembles that of Ciudad Juárez, a border city in Chihuahua state that is also prey to drug cartel violence. “It is true, there are five journalists who have been missing since last week but no one wants to say anything and God only knows where they are,” a local journalist said on condition of anonymity. The Tamaulipas State Attorney-General’s Office (PGJE) confirmed on 1 March that Miguel Angel Domínguez Zamora of the Reynosa-based daily El Mañana disappeared on 1 March but it says it has not received reports of any other journalists going missing. Reporters Without Borders failed to get a clear response when it contacted several local news media. Jorge Rábago Valdez, a journalist employed by the Radio-Rey and Reporteros en la Red radio networks, meanwhile died in disputed circumstances on 2 March in Reynoso. The PGJE said “he fainted as he was walking down the street and was taken to a hospital where he died.” But several media sources insist that he was kidnapped and tortured before being hospitalised and that he died as a result of the injuries he received at the hands of his abductors. Following the release on 3 March of two Milenio Televisión journalists who had been kidnapped in Reynoso, Milenio Televisión editorial director Ciro Gómez Leyva, wrote in an op-ed piece: “They were injured. They have decided not to say anything else. The message from the criminals is clear: ‘Don’t come and bother us’.” Gómez added: “Journalism is getting more and more difficult in Mexico. Journalism in Reynoso is dead. I have nothing more to say.” In a symbolic gesture, he left the rest of the column blank. Information can be fatal in Mexico. Rumours as well. Mexico is the western hemisphere’s deadliest country for the news media, with three journalists killed since the start of the year. Photo : "You don't kill the truth by killing journalists" eljustoreclamo.blogspot.com