The news of the abduction of 40-year-old radio journalist José Luis Romero in the northwestern state of Sinaloa has caused shock and anger in a region notorious for being the preserve of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the country’s leading criminal and drug-trafficking syndicates.
A crime reporter for the Línea Directa radio station, Romero was out shopping in the city of Los Mochis on December 30 when he was grabbed by gunmen and bundled into a pickup. Jesús Escalante, the head of the police force investigating the abduction was himself murdered a few hours later.
“The situation for journalists in Mexico is really dramatic and the 2009 toll is disastrous,” Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said. “Romero’s abduction, which comes less than two months after the abduction of María Esther Aguilar Cansimbe, brings to 10 the total of journalists who have disappeared in this fashion since 2003.”
RSF said, “The violence is even paralysing the work of the authorities responsible for security and justice, as shown by the murder of the police chief in charge of the investigation. The need is a greater than ever for the federal authorities to intervene in order to confront this escalating terror, and when they do, they should work closely with journalists’ organisations and human rights groups.”
“We are very worried about the fate of José Luis Romero,” said Carlos Lauría, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) senior programme coordinator for the Americas. “We call on state and federal authorities to do all in their power to locate Romero and bring him to safety.”
As highlighted in the 2009 annual roundup published by RSF on December 30, drug-trafficking is one of the leading threats to journalists in the western hemisphere. Thirteen journalists were killed in Mexico in 2009 and it has been established beyond any doubt in three of these cases that the victims were targeted because of their work.
Journalists have been abducted in this part of Mexico before. Alfredo Jiménez Mota, the editor of the Hermosillo-based El Imparcial daily, went missing in neighbouring Sonora on April 2, 2005. It is still not known what happened to Jiménez and RSF has repeatedly denounced the lack of any progress in the investigation.
Mexico is one of the most dangerous places for the press. CPJ research shows that 41 journalists have been killed in Mexico, at least 18 in direct reprisal for their work, since 1992. Covering crime news is especially risky. In many areas, drug cartels routinely threaten journalists unless news coverage is tailored to their liking. In areas where there is war between cartels, journalists are caught between the conflicting demands of opposing traffickers.
Romero was considered well-versed on the dug trade but very cautious about what he said on the air, colleagues told CPJ. They told CPJ that Romero had covered the crime beat for about 20 years for several news organisations. Several journalists in Los Mochis told CPJ that they are afraid to conduct in-depth reporting on anything concerning the drug cartels.
