Opinions

The silencing of Mexican journalists

Elidio Ramos Zarate, 45, was shot in the head and killed in Oaxaca, Mexico on June 19, according to an article titled “Executed Newspaper ‘El Sur’ reporter in Oaxaca” published in Mexican magazine Proceso by Pedro Matias.

Ramos Zarate, who was a reporter for the newspaper El Sur, is the most recent journalist to be murdered in Mexico.

I believe it is a journalist’s obligation to give voice to the voiceless and report injustices to the public; people trust journalists to accurately report any kind of harm affecting a community. For this reason, I decided to be a journalist and stand up against inequities, especially those enforced by politicians which are not denounced publicly.

Unfortunately, Mexico is one of the most politically corrupt countries in Latin America and is a top contender when it comes to countries that are most dangerous for journalists, with 91 percent of journalist murders being unpunished, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

In the last 15 years, 103 journalists have been murdered and 25 are still missing, according to the Mexican Attorney General’s report.

As reported by the CPJ, Mexico has attained the sixth spot on a list of the 13 countries where murdering journalists goes unpunished the most, with Somalia being at the top. Furthermore, the committee reports that 76 percent of murders of journalists are committed by those involved in organized crime reporting followed by the 30 percent for corruption reporting and 24 percent by political reporting.

I spoke to journalist Alberto Robledo, who is a reporter for a Mexican newspaper Milenio Laguna. Robledo shared that article 7 in the the Mexican Constitution gives journalists the right to report news to the masses freely, as long as the information does not affect third parties.

Unfortunately, it’s those within the Mexican government who don’t allow the application of the aforementioned article as the citizens’ right. After having lived in Mexico for the majority of my life, I can easily say that most Mexican citizens are aware of the government’s corruption, although it may be difficult to prove as a result of politicians successfully hiding most of the evidence.

This is what many people deem an open secret — all know the Mexican government is responsible for the plethora of journalistic murders, but due to the lack of hard evidence, those murders have gone unpunished.

Therefore, the murders of Mexican journalists are an act of cowardice, they’re a way of organized crime and politicians to silence journalists from reporting accurate information to the masses. Since we reside on this side of the Bravo River, it’s easy to ask questions like, “Why don’t Mexican people report these murders or threats?” Well, unfortunately, Mexico’s organized crime is often backed by politicians in the Mexican government.

It’s hard to file a police report when the police is backed by a corrupt government.

Many times Mexican citizens cannot trust the people in charge of protecting them.

In the United States, freedom of the press is protected under the First Amendment ,which ensures that there is no prohibition on the right to freely speak and report news to the masses. Anyone who attempts to oppress this freedom may be punished under American law.

Furthermore, Mexican politicians — including the current president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, fail to answer the community’s questions regarding government activity.

For example, the disappearance of 43 university students from Ayotzinapa in 2014 is a topic many citizens still want answers to. It’s more than just silencing journalists, the Mexican government also provides little to no transparency about many of their decisions, which makes reporting accurate facts nearly impossible.

As reported by writer Jan Martínez in an article titled: “Dozens of students disappear after a police attack in México,” for Mexican newspaper El Pais, the students were on their way to Mexico City to commemorate the Tlatelolco massacre — a macabre incident in which an estimated 300 students were killed by police in 1968.

The Ayotzinapa students were ambushed by the municipal police; the authoritative forces wanted to impede the students from reaching the capital. The reason why is not clear, but there is speculation among civilians that the government didn’t want a protest or riot to break out during the commemoration.

The police ended up opening fire on the unarmed students — two were killed while five others were seriously injured. The rest of the students fled to the city, filled with fear. To this day, nobody exactly knows where the students went, or where they are. Many are convinced the government is behind their disappearance – as am I.  

Both the public and the family members of the vanished students have not been given any information about the students’ whereabouts or if any are still alive. As reported in an article titled, “Llama Peña a ‘superar’ el caso Ayotzinapa” by Rosa Vargas for Mexican newspaper La Jornada, Peña Nieto stated in a 2014 speech that it would be easier for him to share his plan to better the country’s economy with a “positive attitude.” He advised the Mexican public to essentially get over the disappearance of the students and “move forward.”

If journalists aren’t able to report freely because politicians are omitting important information to the public, how will citizens know what is going on in the country they call home?

Robledo describes the Mexican government as “apathetic, egoistic and egocentric which leads to corruption. Politicians aren’t worried about the consequences that may come from their illicit acts, what they do care about is nobody finding out about them — that’s where censorship comes in and freedom of speech ends.”

In Mexico, freedom of the press and freedom of expression are limited as a result of the monopolization of power initiated by politicians and those involved in organized crime. “It is known that much of the public officials in [the Mexican state of] Coahuila have or had something to do with the [organized crime] Zetas,” Robledo said. “[But] our responsibility is to practice journalism with social interest and not political.”

In professional ethics, the first obligation is to the truth and this implies to tell the citizens the truth about any issue in the country. So, why would a journalist be limited when telling the truth? Or why should a journalist watch his back after making a public denunciation? It is unfair to be killed for doing one’s job, especially one that entails reporting.

If only government officials were to refrain from filling their bank accounts with the country’s money and instead generate more employment opportunities with better pay, less people would be forced to take part in criminal activity for dire pay which, in turn, leads to the murders of journalists in the nation.

What is currently happening in Mexico is everyone’s issue since it affects people within the country and even other countries. While these things don’t change, there is no other choice but to fight against the government and the organized crime by making their crimes public, because even if they kill us, the truth won’t be silenced.

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