Mexican journalists face violence and threats in several states

Organized crime and political violence by state governments are some of the main problems faced by journalists in several Mexican states, such as Nuevo León, Veracruz and Sinaloa.

On the second day of the seminar "Journalism and Freedom of Expression” organized on occasion of the 100th anniversary of the newspaper EL UNIVERSAL, Melva Frutos, of the Red the Periodistas del Noreste (Network of Journalists of the Northeast) that supports and protects journalists in Nuevo León, Coahuila and Tamaulipas, said that "since 2008 journalists became like war correspondents in a war without front” and added that they had to change the way they work.

Frutos, from Nuevo León, said that in states like Tamaulipas journalists face threats from organized crime regardless of their beat.

She added that in Coahuila journalists have to face the aversion of state officials and organized crime.

In the case of Nuevo León, Frutos said that the biggest problem are the verbal attacks of Governor Jaime Rodríguez “El Bronco”.

Francisco Sarabia, correspondent Río 12 from Sinaloa, said that journalism is experiencing one of its worst moments in Mexico as 110 journalists have been killed in the last 10 years and 21 more are missing.

Norma Trujillo, from Colectivo Voz Alterna de Veracruz, said that in this state the main problem is organized crime, chiefdoms and the state government, that constantly attacks journalists. A total of 12 journalists have been killed during the current administration in Veracruz.

All of them agreed on the need to improve special prosecutors for crimes against journalists, because the existing ones do not work properly.