(CPJ/IFEX) – On 27 November 1997, at about 9:30 am, J. Jesus Blancornelas, co-director of the Tijuana weekly “Zeta”, was shot during a shootout with unknown assailants. Blancornelas’s driver and bodyguard, Luis Lauro Valero, was killed in the attack. One of the alleged attackers was also reported to have been killed and identified by police. […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 27 November 1997, at about 9:30 am, J. Jesus
Blancornelas, co-director of the Tijuana weekly “Zeta”, was shot
during a shootout with unknown assailants. Blancornelas’s driver
and bodyguard, Luis Lauro Valero, was killed in the attack. One
of the alleged attackers was also reported to have been killed
and identified by police. Blancornelas is reported to be in
serious, but stable condition.
The assassination was condemned publicly by a steering committee
of prominent Mexican journalists who are organizing Mexican
reporters and editors to defend themselves against violent
attacks and legal reprisals for their work. The group called on
President Ernesto Zedillo and Governor of Baja California Hector
Teran Teran to “investigate this act of aggression and punish
both the material and intellectual authors.” The statement was
signed by Juan Angulo of “El Sur”; Juan Bautista of
“Multivision”; Rossana Fuentes of “Reforma”; Rashy Gonzalez, an
independent journalist in Oaxaca; Jose Santiago Healy of “El
Imparcial”; Raymundo Riva Palacio of “El Financiero”; and Jorge
Zepeda of “Publico”. Blancornelas is also a member of this
steering committee.
Family members and colleagues of Blancornelas said in a statement
that, “curiously”, the attack occurred just one week after
bodyguards assigned to the journalist by the Baja California
state government were withdrawn by that same government.
“Zeta” is a highly-regarded newspaper known for its hard-hitting
stories on official corruption and drug trafficking, while the
city of Tijuana has become one of the bloodiest battlegrounds in
Mexico’s ongoing drug war.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
Blancornelas
leading to the identification and punishment of both the material
and intellectual authors
Appeals To
His Excellency Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon
President of the Republic of Mexico
Official Residence
Colonia San Miguel Chapultepec
C.P. 11850 Mexico D.F.
Fax: +525 271 1764 / 515 1794 / 277 2376Emilio Chuayffet Chemor
Minister of Interior
Bucareli 99, 1er piso, Col. Juarez
C.P. 06690 Mexico D.F.
Fax: +525 546 5350Hector Teran Teran
Governor of the State of Baja California
Tijuana, Mexico
Tel: +565 508 1128Copies to:
“Zeta”
e-mail: zeta@icanet.com.mx
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
