Threats Toward Journalists Reflect Return to Old Practices of Mexico’s Ruling Party Mark Stevenson - AP
go to original April 28, 2017

Mexican Journalists March over Murder of Reporters (teleSUR English)

The scene was so typical of Mexico’s long-dominant ruling party that it could have happened a half century ago: poor women lined up under a blazing sun, waiting for a politician to show up hours late for a rally they had been obliged to attend under threat of losing benefits from an anti-poverty program.

But unlike a half-century ago, there were a couple of independent media outlets interviewing the women, who were hot, tired and outraged that a government program would be used for political purposes.

Listen: Mexico Is the Deadliest Country for Journalists in the Americas (Fronteras Desk)

The venting ended abruptly when Institutional Revolutionary Party workers arrived to kick out the reporters and tell the women to stop talking. Bruisers took a cameraman’s equipment and physically ejected him from the stadium where the event was being held, threatening to “disappear” him and other journalists.

“When they took us into the (stadium’s) bathroom, they said ‘you’re going to die.‘ That’s when I really got scared,” said David Morales, director of the internet news service Chiapas Without Censorship, describing interviewing women at a rally in Tuxtla Gutierrez for PRI Sen. Roberto Albores Gleason over the weekend.

Such threats are terrifying in rural Mexico, where dozens of journalists have been killed in recent years. And they reflect what many perceive as a return to its corrupt, old practices by the ruling PRI, as it fights for its life in June gubernatorial elections in some of its last bastions — Mexico State and the northern state of Coahuila.

The PRI ruled Mexico for 71 years, despite accusations of stolen or bought elections, before being ousted in 2000 voting. When it returned to power in 2012 under President Enrique Pena Nieto, its leaders couldn’t stop talking about how their party had changed.

Now, with several former PRI governors in jail, on the lam or under investigation for corruption, the party is reeling and Pena Nieto’s unpopularity has hit record lows. Experts say it appears to be returning to tried and true methods to hold on to power.

Read the rest at The Blade

Related: Rare Victory for Persecuted Journalist Highlights Mexico's Press Freedom Crisis (The Guardian)

Related: National Rights Commission Calls for End of Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists in Mexico (Prensa Latina)

Related: Veracruz, Mexico is LatAm's Epicenter of Violence Against Journalists (InSight Crime)

Related: If You Want to Murder a Journalist in Mexico, Chances Are You'll Get Away with It (teleSUR)

Related: Mexico Press Freedom: Journalists Live Between Fear and Bribes (Mexico Voices)

Related: Journalists' Safety: Tips for Staying Safe While Covering Violent Protests (International Center for Journalists)

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