After the latest attack |
The attack occurred minutes after 1 pm on the south side of
Allende near Acuña street, riddling the facade of the newspaper’s building with
bullets and shattering glass.
Only two days earlier, on Monday, February 25, federal
agents guarding the premises of the newspaper came under attack. At the time,
newspaper officials insisted it was the federales
who were the targets, and not them. However, on February 8 five non-editorial
workers at the newspaper were kidnapped for a few hours before being released. The
newspaper refused to give any details on the incident, citing security reasons,
other than to say that the kidnapping of non-editorial staff was a “worrisome
trend”.
As with the previous attack, this was a drive-by shooting.
Two vehicles were involved, with the description only being that “one was white
and one was black”. A mobilization of security forces, as in the past two
attacks, came up with nothing.
In a statement released after the latest attack, the newspaper
stated that “insecurity and violence faced by this media outlet, like others in
the district, has reached the highest levels," adding the series of attacks
against El Siglo de Torreón “exhibits the inaction of the federal and local
authorities.”
This latest attack on press freedom, in which an innocent
bystander was killed – as has happened in so many cases – should help put to
rest the persistent myth that the drug war is some sort of mopping up exercise, in which the only
victims are an endless
supply of violent delinquents.
(TE Wilson is the author of Mezcalero, a Detective Sánchez novel.)
(TE Wilson is the author of Mezcalero, a Detective Sánchez novel.)
For a report on the previous attacks, see:
For a detailed look at the state of press freedom in Mexico,
and how this ties in with the problem of the ”disappeared”, see:
Tracking
Mexico’s disappeared in a journalistic black hole
Twitter: @TimothyEWilson
Email: lapoliticaeslapolitica [at] gmail [dot] com
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