Lydia Cacho:Most Killings of Journalists are Ordered by:Government, Military, Political Parties

Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat-Submitted by Forum administrator DD

A shocking revelation from the journalist previously kidnapped and wrongfully imprisoned.  She was awarded asylum in the US but decided to return to Mexico.  She states narcos are not the sole cause of journalist kidnappings, that in fact the majority of those kidnappings are ordered by Government, political parties and the military among others.

 Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho. Lydia Cacho was prosecuted for publishing a disclosure of an investigation in which a network was unveiled of child pornography and trafficking in Mexico.

 

The book “The Demons of Eden”, describes  Mexico’s organized crime   and  pedophilia involving several public figures. Since its publication in 2005, Cacho has not ceased to receive threats.

Cacho’s work resulted in her own kidnapping and torture.  At one point, Cacho said, she was abducted, taken on a harrowing 950-mile drive from Cancun to Puebla and briefly jailed. Allies and in Mexico and the United States were able to arrange for her release.

In February 2006, a recording was released  of a phone call between the governor of Puebla and Kamel Nacif, in which the latter thanks him for the  favor done by Marin in arresting  and prosecuting Lydia Cacho.

Despite what Cacho described as overwhelming evidence, her kidnappers were never convicted.

Following the trial, Cacho said, she had to meet sources wearing disguises because people feared being seen with her.
 

Cacho publicly named those she believed responsible for her abduction, comments that made her vulnerable to legal action.

She refused to be silent, however, and eventually defamation laws in Mexico were reformed because of her case.

 

From CNN: Torture, sexual assault, kidnapping and death threats have not silenced Mexican investigative journalist Lydia Cacho.

 She has courageously reported on corruption, drug violence and sex trafficking in her home country for several decades, sometimes even exposing the corrupt practices of government officials and high-powered business people.

Fearing for her life, she was forced to flee Mexico last summer, but has now returned there to continue her work.

In the video, Cacho tells CNN’s Hala Gorani why she continues her fight to report the truth, despite the horrendous challenges she faces.

 Anonymous Blogging:

If anyone thinks bloggers are not in danger we need only to remember the gruesome executions of Nuevo Laredo blogger to remind us.

Global Voice posted an article about the subject which is posted in full on BB Forum by DD. 

An extraction:

 In Mexico last month, a drug cartel offered a bounty of MX$600,000 for information on the identity and location of a person who has been using social media to report on drug violence  in the northern state of Tamaulipas. The drug war has had a stark, chilling effect on Mexico's press, with sometimes lethal violence against journalists forcing news outlets to censor their coverage of crime. But this and other recent incidents have shown that both professional and citizen journalists alike are now facing these threats.

Link to Guide HERE

 Citizen Reporters-The New War Correspondents

As with any internal conflict, information is vital and thus very important to control. Media outlets and governments now self-censor their own content – some because they are said to be collaborating with cartels, others because they have been explicitly threatened for covering “uncomfortable” news. In response, citizen journalists have been working to fill the gap by reporting on the violence they see around them.

“The New War Correspondents"  a new study from Microsoft Research, describes the changes that the conflict has brought about for information flow in Mexico:

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