MEXICO

Country Summary

The Mexican press has been moving away from collusion with public officials, a decades-old tradition among many Mexican journalists and news organizations that in the past has diminshed the intergrity and independence of the press.

Mexican journalists covering controversial stories in provincial areas generally are susceptible to attacks from political and criminal elements about whom they report. This is the case in the cities along the U.S. border, where narcotics traffickers proliferate, as well as in the politically volatile states of Tabasco, Oaxaca, and Chiapas.

Unlike their counterparts in some Latin American countries, the Mexican press has not moved toward the formation of professional associations aimed at protecting journalists and denouncing violations of press freedom. But the September kidnapping of a journalist who had written about a recently emerged guerrilla organization in the state of Oaxaca did prompt widespread concern among the press about both personal safety and the implications for press freedom in general.

While the trend among Mexican journalists is toward increased independence and professional integrity, the media remain vulnerable to government influence through official advertising and the control of broadcast licensure.

There were also some milestones for press freedom in 1996. The weekly news magazine Proceso, begun by a group of journalists who had been forced out of the daily newspaper Excelsior in 1976 by then-President Luis Echeverria Alvarez because he did not like their independent posture, celebrated its 20th anniversary. The independent editorial stance of Proceso and other notable publications--including the news weekly Zeta of Tijuana; the daily newspaper El Norte of Monterrey; and more recently Reforma of Mexico City--has inspired a new generation of well-trained, enterprising journalists that is providing Mexicans with more balanced coverage of the news.

In contrast to the officials of many other Latin American nations, the Mexican government has responded to all of CPJ’s protests and inquiries about attacks against Mexican journalists. Yet it remains unable or unwilling to resolve the cases of 10 murdered journalists who CPJ has determined were killed because of their work as journalists. Among these cases, which occurred between 1984 and 1995, is the 1988 assasination of Héctor Félix “El Gato” Miranda, the columinst and co-publisher of Zeta.

In an Oct. 15 ruling, a panel of the Organization of American States condemned the Mexican government for jailing a general who publicly criticized the armed forces. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called for the release of Brig. Gen. José Francisco Gallardo Rodríguez, who has been in a military prison since November 1993. Gallardo has claimed that his imprisonment stems from an essay he wrote, in which he detailed several crimes committed by Mexican troops and urged the creation of a civilian-appointed military ombudsman. The panel concluded that the Mexican military had jailed Gallardo “with no reasonable, logical or justifiable purpose.”

Despite this ruling, the Mexican government, which has accused Gallardo of stealing public monies, refused to reconsider Gallardo’s case.

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