Added comments from two Coahuilense:
From C.E.
Martinez.....If you have spent time
in Coahuila, or know someone who has, then it comes as no surprise that
Coahuila, like its neighbors, Zacatecas and Tamaulipas fall in the “Narco
Black-out News” category. What is
published is done so with narco approval.
In 2009, the door slammed shut on publishing narco news in Tamaulipas. It was a time that run away violence exploded
with such force, it has never been able to recover.
So was the birth of
social media pages to spread the word of “situations at risk”. It was the only method of advising citizens
of violence and unsafe areas, before they would move around or travel into the
risky areas. The genesis was
#ReynosaFollow. Hundreds would create
other pages, using Twitter, Facebook or blog websites, in states having
violence. 2009 was also the year the only group, a NGO, that collected data of drug
violence, including deaths, “exited Tamaulipas”.
Organized Crime news published through social media became the new
normal for Mexicans living in black-out states.
Files lawsuit against Vanguardia |
However, the escalation
of attacks call into question if the paper and its reporters can function in
safety.
The Committee to
Protect Journalists is alarmed by the increasing harassment of the Mexican
daily newspaper Vanguardia and its staff. In recent weeks, Vanguardia's website
was attacked, police raided its owner's ranch, a former local official sued the
newspaper, and unknown men followed one of its reporters home, according to
Vanguardia, the oldest and largest-circulation newspaper in Saltillo, capital
of the northern state of Coahuila.
"We call on
Mexican authorities to exhaustively investigate Vanguardia's claim of a
campaign aimed at intimidating the newspaper and its reporters," said
Carlos Lauría, CPJ's senior program coordinator for the Americas in New York.
"Authorities must ensure that Vanguardia can continue to report on
sensitive issues without fear of retribution."
And adding insult to injury,
the notorious former governor Humberto Moreira last week filed a lawsuit
against the newspaper for slander (moral damage) damage" in relation to a
February 18, 2016, article that reported the government improperly granted
Moreira a pension in December 2015.
From DD.....
From DD.....
Vanguardia has never
been timid about reporting the short comings and questionable actions of the
political elite in the state. Even
though his brother. Ruben, is the current Governor, there is no one more elite
than Humberto Moreira.
/Another journalist
described Vanguardia during the Moreira era as “maintaining it’s commitment to
the community. Only it asked questions
when others applauded, And it spoke when
others were silent”.
Vanguardia has not
alleged or pointed a finger at who it thinks is behind the recent attempts to
intimidate the newspaper, it’s reporters, and it’s publisher. However, given the circumstances surrounding
the latest action of trying to evict the publisher, Castilla Galudo, the question has to be
raised as to whether Humberto could be behind all of the acts of intimidation
and harassment.
Galudo bought the house
and property 20 years ago from a prominent businessman in Saltillo who has been
deceased for some years. Everyone in
Saltillo knew that the seller was dead and Galudo has been living in the house he bought for the last 20
years. Yet the lawsuit for “eviction”
was brought by a person in Monterrey against the previous owner claiming
the house blocked an “access road” to
that persons ranch. The papers,
including the order to evict were full of irregularities and did not even
mention Galudo’s name. Galudo said he
knew of no such claim until the elite state police group blocked his drive and
would not allow him access to his house.
The judge in Saltillo
who ordered the eviction was Cesar
Saucedo Alejandro Flores, is the same judge who is in charge of the two
investigations against VANGUARDIA and management based on complaints brought by
Humberto Moreira for “libel and damaging” his reputation.
This judge was
appointed to this position by Governor Humberto Moreira in 2008. At that time judge was questioned by his peers, because they
allegedly did not believe he meet the requirements to hold this position. One of the judges on Judicial Council, Benito
Villanueva Saliente, filed an injunction claiming that the new judge was not
prepared for the post, according to local media.
The eviction was
carried out by a force that normally might be used to arrest a major drug king
pin. Thirty of the states elite
“Coahuila Force” police who report directly to the Secretary of the Government,
along with approximately 100 civilians, believed to be from the Judicial
Minisstry, many carrying machetes descended on Galuda’s property, blocked him
from entering the premises. They then
loaded everything in the house, including the stove and kitchen items onto
trucks, gave no inventory of what was taken and would not disclose where the
property was being taken.
The person who ordered
that force to carry out the eviction order is Victor Zamora, Secretary of Government. Zamora has served as labor secretary and
secretary of Education in this administration. He was also secretary of
Education and Finance in the former government of Humberto Moreira Valdes.
Vanguardia issued a
statement that said;
“The way in which the
alleged judicial proceedings took place and, above all, the actions of the
police elements under the command of the Secretary of Government of Coahuila,
Victor Zamora Rodriguez, makes it clear that it is concerted action seeking
purposes beyond the alleged law enforcement and defense of the rule of law “
“The excessive use of
force implies for us a clear message: the masterminds of the attack have on the
strength its only argument to impose its ideology and thereby achieving
compliance with their particular agenda.”
Is Humberto behind these attacks and excessive
use of force seeking vengeance? Or could
it be he is trying to silence a voice that has been critical of him as he lays
the ground work for a political recovery.
Full
article from CPJ below
In a May 5 editorial,
the daily denounced a campaign to harass the newspaper. Vanguardia said unknown
men followed one of its reporters, whose name it first withheld. The paper
several days later identified the reporter as Roxana Romero, who told CPJ that
two individuals followed her in a car as she returned home from work the night
of May 4. When she reached her home, the individuals stopped at a nearby street
corner and drove away, only to make another pass by her house shortly
afterwards. Vanguardia reported the same men had been seen near the editorial
offices the day before.
The newspaper gave the
journalist a temporary leave of absence and a security detail at her residence
for her safety. She told CPJ she is currently assessing when or if it would be safe
for her to return to work.
In its editorial, the
paper said that its reporters were the target of smear attacks from several
Coahuila websites, which appear to have been created solely to disparage its
reporters. It also denounced an April attempt to make its website unavailable
through a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack - in which multiple computers
try to overload the server that hosts a website with rapid requests to deliver
the site -- which the newspaper said originated from the states of Coahuila,
Puebla, and Nuevo León. Vanguardia's technology staff blocked the DDoS attack,
the newspaper said.
On Friday, lawyers for
the former governor of Coahuila, Humberto Moreira, announced that the former
governor had filed a lawsuit against both Romero and the newspaper for
"moral damage" in relation to a February 18, 2016, article in which
Romero alleged that the government improperly granted Moreira a pension in
December 2015.
Moreira himself has not
spoken publicly about the lawsuit. CPJ contacted his lawyers to convey a
request for comment, but has not received a response from the former governor.
Moreira remains
powerful in Coahuila's politics. He briefly served as president of the Party of
the Institutional Revolution (PRI), to which Mexican President Enrique Peña
Nieto belongs. His brother, Rubén Moreira, currently serves as governor of
Coahuila.
Also on Friday, roughly
30 members of an elite state police corps raided the ranch of Vanguardia's
owner, Armando Castilla Galindo, according to press reports. The raid, which
was authorized by a court order, was meant to evict Castilla because of an unpaid
mortgage debt from 2009, the press reports said. Vanguardia said the raid was
conducted with force unprecedented in a civil suit, including the use of heavy
machinery.
The Coahuila government
said in a statement that police acted in compliance with the law.
Vanguardia has been the
victim of attacks before. In 2011, a grenade was thrown at its editorial
offices in Saltillo. In 2013, Vanguardia photographer Daniel Martínez Balzaldúa
was murdered in Saltillo. Neither incident has resulted in arrests or
convictions. In recent years, Coahuila has been the stage for violent turf wars
between organized crime groups.
Mexico is one of the
most dangerous countries in the world to work as a journalist, according to CPJ
research. Journalists often have to contend with threats of violence from
authorities or members of criminal groups, according to CPJ research. Since
1992, at least 36 journalists have been killed for their work, while dozens
more have died in unclear circumstances.
Terminology
explainedMarcos Hernández Bautista , Noticias, Voz e Imagen de Oaxaca January 21, 2016, in
Oaxaca, Mexico
Gulando |
48 others most likely killed in relation to their profession but unconfirmed.
These numbers do not include those killed because of their work in other media professions, such as bloggers.
36 Journalists Killed in Mexico/Motive Confirmed
Ay ke saber trabajar sin matar o meterse con gente inocente ,Ya ke ellos tambien hacen su trabajo , el policia , sicario, o cartel ke se mete con inocentes no es hombre , ke venga conmingo pa ensenarles como se trabaja chueko pero derecho compa
ReplyDelete-pistolero de manuel torrez-
pistolero de Manuel torrez??? Ja ja ja no me hagas reir.cuando quieras caile a la Baja y te invito un cafecito.
DeleteTarde que temprano te quebras a un inocente sin querer primo. - El Sol Perdido
DeleteThose cops look geared up n ready. Are they the swat team of Coahuila?
ReplyDeleteThey are just regular cops
DeleteWow these people in power have no maturity.Like little kids.If they don't get want they want in life-well so so vindictive,not very good for the soul.Where's the positivity.Can't they just ignore it and hope it will subside and go away like the Mex gov does to it's citizens?
ReplyDeleteBertie boy Moreira is not PRESIDENTE DE MEXICO YET, but he is trying to pull BIIIG TURDS like this outta his ass, imagine if he stages a "comeback"?
ReplyDeletePlease note, those there are not Policias, they are a new version of polizetas, accreditable state poolice that work for the moreiros, but no setas, the moreiros and the setas broke up over the drug trafficking business, the moreiros ran out of credits and money to borrow from foreign banks, they need to go back to the old days and earn their own money like Al Capone, steal it from friend and foe, and do their own drug trafficking again, their empty "car wash lots" are not "producing"...