Press Freedom

Mexico October 4, 2010

H.E. Felipe Calderon

President

Residencia Official de los Pinos

Col. San Miguel Chapultepec

11850 Mexico, DF

Mexico

Fax: (011.52.5) 515.5729

Your Excellency:

We are delighted to learn of your new program to protect journalists who have been threatened in Mexico’s escalating drug wars, and we hope all of its measures will be implemented as quickly as possible.

The urgency of such protection was underscored only last month when El Diario de Juarez, the largest newspaper in Ciudad Juarez, published a front-page editorial asking the drug cartels for a truce. The newspaper was trying to protect its staffers after one of its photographers, Luis Carlo Santiago Orozco, was shot and killed, and an intern was wounded. Until then, El Diario had been courageously reporting on the drug wars. Its willingness to accept self-censorship signals a surrender that is a threat to democratic institutions throughout Mexico.

We at the Overseas Press Club of America, an independent organization of international journalists that has been defending press freedom for more than 70 years, are also gratified that the United States government has granted asylum to Jorge Luis Aguirre, editor of the news site, La Polaka.com, who was threatened with death two years ago after attending the funeral of a colleague who had been murdered. If your new program is successful, it may mean that such grants of asylum are no longer necessary. But while the jury is still out on how well the program works, it is our hope that the precedent set in Aguirre’s case will be extended to any Mexican journalist who is targeted by the cartels.

Again, thank you for taking action to protect our colleagues. Since taking your high office, you have acted courageously and wisely to confront the cartels. This latest measure underscores both your determination and your attention to the collateral effects of the battle. We are grateful.

Respectfully yours,

Larry Martz
Kevin McDermott

Co-chairmen, Freedom of the Press Committee

cc:

Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza

Attorney General

Avenida Paseo de la Reforma, Nos. 211-213

Mexico, DF, C.P. 06500

Government of Mexico

Fax: (202) 728.1698

Maria Otero

Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs

U.S. Department of State

2201 C Street, NW

Washington, DC 20520

Olga María del Carmen Sánchez

Ministra

Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación

Pino Súarez, No.2

Colonia Centro, México, DF

Government of México

Fax: (011.525.55) 522.0152

Genaro David Góngora Pimentel

Ministro Presidente

Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación

Pino Súarez, No.2

Colonia Centro, México, DF

Government of México

Fax: (011.525.55) 522.0152

H.E. Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana

Ambassador of Mexico to the U.S.A.

Embassy of Mexico

1911 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20006

Fax: (202) 728.1698

Ambassador Claude Heller – Permanent Representative

Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations

2 United Nations Plaza

New York, NY 10017

Fax: (212) 688.8862

H.E. Antonio O. Garza, Jr.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico

Embassy of the United States of America

P.O. Box 9000

Brownsville, TX 78520

Fax: (011.52.55) 5080.2005

Lcda. Rosario Robles, Presidenta

Partido de la Revolución Democrática

Huatusco # 37, 5o. piso

Col. Roma Sur, México, DF

Mexico

Fax: (011.52.55) 5207.1200

Patricia Mercado Sanchez, Editor

El Economista

Mexico, DF

Mexico

pmercado@economista.com.mx

Juan Francisco Ealy Ortiz

El Universal of Mexico City

Bucareli N° 8, Col. Centro

Delegación Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 06040

México

Ramón Darío Cantú Deándar

El Maòana

Mexico

Fax: (011.52.5) 714.8797

Alfredo Corchado

The Dallas Morning News

acorchado@dallasnews.com

Jorge Luis

jlsierra@yahoo.com

Robert Rivard

Editor

San Antonio Express-News

P.O. Box 2171

San Antonio, TX 78297