20 April 2005
WOUNDED REPORTER DIES
Mexican reporter Dolores Guadalupe García Escamilla, who was shot nine times by an unidentified gunman on 5 April 2005 in the northern city of Nuevo Laredo, has died, report the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
García Escamilla, a crime reporter who hosted the programme "Punto Rojo" ("Red Point") for radio station Estéreo 91 XHNOE, died on 16 April. She was attacked on 5 April, a day after the station aired her report about the killing of a local lawyer who represented alleged drug traffickers. Nuevo Laredo, a city in the state of Tamaulipas, has been wracked by a wave of drug-related violence in which more than 30 people have been killed so far this year.
Two journalists - Carlos Figueroa and Santiago Palmeros - have received threats in the wake of García Escamilla's death, says RSF. They are receiving police protection.
García Escamilla's death follows the recent killing of another journalist in Mexico who reported on drug trafficking. Raúl Gibb Guerrero, the owner and editor of the newspaper "La Opinión", was gunned down on 8 April in the eastern state of Veracruz. He was known for reporting on the activities of the Gulf Cartel, a powerful drug gang (see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/66054/).
In response to the murders, Mexico's Public Safety Secretary Ramon Huerta says federal authorities will work more closely with local and state governments to better protect journalists.
Visit:
- CPJ:
http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Mexico18apr05na.html
- RSF:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=13120
- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=3076&Language=EN
- IAPA: http://www.sipiapa.org/pressreleases/chronologicaldetail.cfm?PressReleaseID=1367
- Tijuana Drug Wars Put Journalists in Danger: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2004/tijuana/tijuana.html
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