MARCH 21, 2008
Posted April 22, 2008
Javier Montes Camarena, El Diario de Colima
ATTACKED
Unidentified individuals fired several shots at Montes’ home in Manzanillo, a city in the western Mexican state of Colima. The journalist told CPJ that he believes the attack was retaliation for his criticism of the local government in the daily El Diario de Colima.
At 4:45 a.m. on March 21, two unidentified individuals fired at least seven shots with 9mm weapons at the journalist’s home. Montes and his family were in the house but no one was injured, he told CPJ. According to the journalist, who writes the weekly column “Enlace” (Connection) in the local daily El Diario de Colima, the attack damaged the building’s façade and the family car parked outside.
Montes told CPJ that on March 20, El Diario de Colima published his column comparing Colima’s Governor Silverio Cavazos Ceballos to Judas for betraying his constituents by making unfulfilled promises. The journalist said he filed a complaint with local authorities on March 24 accusing Cavazos and three other government officials of plotting the attack against his home. Cavazos denied the accusations on a local radio show, Montes told CPJ.