Last week’s killings of Mexican journalists again highlight the dangers faced by those engaged in the profession within the developing world. The dismembered remains of Guillermo Luna and Gabriel Huge were discovered by the authorities in the Mexican state of Veracruz following their recent disappearance. Mr Huge worked for the popular newspaper, Notiver, while Mr Luna, a relative of Mr Huge was said to have been a photojournalist at a local photo agency.
The deaths come on the heels of recent murders of journalists in the country including those of Regina Martinez, a writer at a national newspaper who was found dead at her home and prior to that, the killing of Yolanda Ordaz. Martinez was said to have recently written about police corruption and in one of her pieces, exposed a group of police officers who had been infiltrated by drug cartels. It is not only journalists who have been targeted by the cartels as bloggers are also reported to have suffered similar fates to that of their more illustrious counterparts.
The deaths have been blamed on violent drug gangs, the most famous of which are the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel who have successfully turned this North American powerhouse into a violent battleground. The methods of execution preferred by the gangs include decapitation as well as the hanging or displaying of the body parts of murdered victims in public squares, parks, fields and bridges as a means of intimidating both their enemies and members of the public who presumably harbour any thoughts of reporting the drug cartels’ nefarious activities to the authorities.
Worryingly for the government which is led by the country’s President, Felipe Calderon, Veracruz was until recently deemed to be one of the country’s safest regions. The infiltration of Veracruz by the armed gangs is therefore being seen by Calderon’s opponents as indication that the government is fighting a losing battle in its long-running operation against the country’s drugs cartels. With presidential elections due to be held later in the year, Calderon will struggle to convince voters, many of whom have suffered direct or indirect loss as a result of the conflict, that achievements are being made in its battle against the drug gangs.
Recently released figures by the authorities indicate that nearly 50,000 people have died in the last five years as a result of the violence, the majority of whom have been members of the country’s security forces, drug cartel members and in the majority innocent individuals who have had no links to the gangs.
Although the government continually asserts that it has employed more than adequate manpower in its bid to curtail the activities of the gangs – more than 50,000 security forces have been deployed to tackle the menace of drug cartels – this has for the most part failed to generate the desired results. Observers blame amongst others, the corruption of security officers, the lack of accountability of security personnel who are said to be responsible for large numbers of deaths of innocent civilians who have been mistakenly identified as collaborators. More importantly and of concern are in some cases justified reports of the infiltration of police and military personnel by these gangs.
According to the Paris-based organisation, Reporters Without Borders, last year Mexico was third on the list of countries where journalists had suffered the most deaths, following closely on the heels of Pakistan and Iraq. Aside the killings, many journalists have been forced to give up their source of livelihoods as a result of threats being made against them, many have fled their homes and several newspaper offices have had to be shut down or have relocated after being sprayed with bullets or destroyed by explosives.
In the aftermath of the killings, Reporters Without Borders released a statement calling for the perpetrators of the crimes to be brought to justice. It stated: "We demand justice for Martinez and all other journalists who have been killed…Crime pays if it goes unpunished." Whether the criminals who are responsible for the killings will ever be brought to justice widely remains to be seen but unfortunately what is easier to predict and based on the statistics to hand, is that the deaths of Huge and Luna will not be the last unsolved murders of journalists to be reported out of Mexico this year.
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