Three Photographers Found Dead in Mexico
Source: New York Times
The bodies of three photojournalists were found dismembered on Thursday in the eastern state of Veracruz, days after a crime reporter for a national magazine was killed in her house there.
The motives for the killings were not immediately known, and few such cases in Mexico are ever solved. But human rights groups condemned the deaths as another worrying sign of the vulnerability of journalists reporting on the wave of drug and organized crime violence that has rocked Mexico in the past six years and left more than 50,000 people dead.
What we have seen in Mexico in the last years is a systematic attempt to muzzle the press that has been successful in various parts of the country, where the press has been effectively censored, said Rosental Alves, director of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, in Austin, Tex. This unprecedented blood bath is fueled by a certainty of impunity, as the cases of crimes against the press usually dont even reach a court of law.
The Veracruz journalists killed this past week were the first documented killings of Mexican journalists this year, according to press groups; last year, 11 were killed and, according to Article 19, a press freedom group, 44 have been killed in the past six years as drug crime soared and the government began an offensive.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/world/americas/mexico-photographers-found-dead-in-veracruz-state.html
duhneece
(4,105 posts)These journalists are among the most courageous folks I know. The US's War on Drugs policy is partially responsible for the violence (remember alcohol prohibition anyone?).
liberalmike27
(2,479 posts)Come on, we're totally responsible, they need to legalize that crap, bring it above-board, for all to see, and tax it in the market place, and use it to create Mexican jobs.
I've always thought Mexico should institute some policies to reward families for only having one child too. They need to do something to keep the population down. We've been an enabler for a while, a safety vent on the pressure cooker, but now more are going back than coming here, so...
duhneece
(4,105 posts)There are cartel members doing horrendous things to other people and they cannot escape all blame for the horrific acts they commit.
But it is OUR policies that lie at the bottom of it.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)No ifs, ands, or buts.
may3rd
(593 posts)Notiver covers a state rapidly becoming one of Mexicos most violent. Last June, Miguel Ángel López Velasco, a columnist and the newspapers editorial director, was shot to death along with his wife and one of his children.
The Nights Templar like to put signs on the bodies explaining why the murder was done. What kind of pics/stories have these people posted in the press the past year ?
any links ?
This article lacks a lot of information.
tawadi
(2,110 posts)Ironic.