(PFC/IFEX) – Hermén Macías Lopez, director of “Lo Nuestro” newspaper, in the city of Cadereyta Jiménez, Nuevo Leon state, is facing a complaint filed against him by Hilario Vega Zamapirra, a labour leader for Petroleos Mexicanos and substitute federal representative for the 2nd Nuevo Leon District. The action is for defamation, a demand for compensation […]
(PFC/IFEX) – Hermén Macías Lopez, director of “Lo Nuestro” newspaper, in the city of Cadereyta Jiménez, Nuevo Leon state, is facing a complaint filed against him by Hilario Vega Zamapirra, a labour leader for Petroleos Mexicanos and substitute federal representative for the 2nd Nuevo Leon District. The action is for defamation, a demand for compensation of approximately US$195,000, as well as the closure of “Lo Nuestro”.
On 22 August 2002, “Lo Nuestro” published a report entitled “Hilario… Vega or Castillo?” in which, on the basis of a birth certificate, the newspaper refuted statements that Vega had made to another media outlet one week earlier concerning his ancestors. The “Lo Nuestro” article reported that his paternal lineage came from the Castillo surname and not Vega, as he had claimed. The labour leader had made the assertion to demonstrate that his family had been in the oil business for generations.
“Lo Nuestro” has been monitoring the labour leader’s actions for some time and has noted that, since he assumed the position four and a half years ago, his personal fortune has increased, presumably through – among other corrupt practices – the sale of jobs in the Petroleos Mexicanos refinery in Cadereyta. Some employees at the refinery made the charge known through public denunciations.
In a letter to Ramiro del Muro Sánchez, sub-delegate of investigations for the State of Nuevo Leon’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, PFC said that the action against Macías Lopez was unfounded, since the newspaper article was based on a birth certificate, and called on his office to reject the legal action.
PFC noted that this “legal action is being taken in reprisal for ‘Lo Nuestro”s monitoring of the above-mentioned labour leader’s conduct, and that its final objective is to instill fear in, or muzzle, this media outlet.”
PFC’s letter to the Public Prosecutor’s Office can be read at:
http://portal-pfc.org/libexp/docs/2002/085.html
Further information and background on the case can be found at:
http://portal-pfc.org/perseguidos/2002/079.html
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the Public Prosecutor’s Office:
– requesting that the legal action against Macías Lopez not be allowed to proceed
Appeals To
Lic. Ramiro del Muro Sánchez
Subdelegado de Averiguaciones Previas
de la Procuraduría General de la República
Estado de Nuevo Leon, México
Tel/Fax: +52 81 8154 74 00
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
