| | |  Editorials | November 2008 
Messenger, Killed: Slaying of Mexican Journalist Muzzles Whole Society
 Houston Chronicle
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| | Relatives of slain Mexican newspaper reporter Armando Rodriguez view the car in which he was killed on Nov. 13 in Ciudad Juarez. (J. Guadalupe Perez//Getty Images) | | |
Armando Rodriguez said goodbye to his wife and two of their children, climbed into the car with his oldest girl, Ximena, and paused before heading to Ximena's school and then his office. An ordinary day in the life of a reporter.
But in those few moments, as Rodriguez warmed up his car, an unknown gunman fired repeatedly into his body. As Ximena watched her father die, the killer raced off inside a waiting car.
Increasingly, such murders are also an ordinary part of life for Mexico's reporters. The country is now one of the world's most dangerous for journalists.
Rodriguez was the fifth Mexican journalist slain this year alone, according to the Commitee to Protect Journalists.
No one knows who murdered Rodriguez, but the execution-style killing, coupled with recent death threats to the journalist, point to out-of-control drug cartels.
Rodriguez worked for El Diario in Ciudad Juarez, now the heartbeat of Mexican drug violence as the two main cartels clash over drug routes and slaughter those who thwart them.
Corruption and disinterest from law enforcement help the blood flow freely. Ninety-nine percent of all Mexican crimes go unpunished, nonprofit groups reckon.
This climate of terror makes Mexican reporters like Rodriguez truly extraordinary — and invaluable. Described by peers as a hardworking family man, Rodriguez dared to write about drug violence even though he knew the risks.
Alarmed by threats against him this winter, his paper had sent Rodriguez to work in El Paso for two months, but he asked to return. He also declined state police protection — reckless by ordinary American standards, but more understandable in Mexico, where law enforcers often fail to stop cartel attacks, and at times facilitate them.
Rodriguez wasn't rash in his reporting: Though he covered events such as the recent murders of two police officers, his paper did not publish in-depth investigative reports on organized crime for security reasons.
But in Mexico, even basic reporting on drug violence is a life-threatening job. "Those behind Rodriguez's death clearly intended to frighten journalists, newpapers and electronic news outlets into avoiding coverage of crime and terrorism by the cartels," the El Paso Press Club commented in a statement.
"We hope it doesn't work. If anything, this terrorist act should lead to more intense coverage of Mexico's drug war by news organizations in the United States, Mexico and Latin America."
The state attorney general's office has announced that a special prosecutor will investigate Rodriguez's murder. The findings — and their legal consequences — will reveal state and federal authorities' commitment to security for all Mexicans.
The implications are enormous. If reporters like Armando Rodriguez can be silenced without punishment, Mexican civil society will be forced accept the cartels' version of reality. |
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