Radio announcer killed and two books sale blocked

September 2008
Radio announcer killed while carrying out campaign against organised crime
SOURCE: Center for Journalism and Public Ethics (CEPET), Mexico City
(CEPET/IFEX) - radio announcer Alejandro ZenónFonseca Estrada was assassinated by armed individuals as he was carryingout a campaign against organised crime in the streets of Villa Hermosa,Tabasco, southeastern Mexico.Fonseca Estrada was well known for his morning radio programme "El Padrino"("The Godfather"), broadcast in Villa Hermosa by the MVS radio network.The news of Fonseca Estrada's assassination was distributed via thewebsites of several media outlets, which said that the Tabasco AttorneyGeneral's Office (Procuraduría General de Justicia del Tabasco) hadconfirmed the death.According to witness testimonies, at about 9:00 p.m. (local time) on 23September, the 35-year-old radio announcer was at the intersection of PaseoTabasco and Adolfo Ruiz Cortines streets, in the Tabasco 2000 area of VillaHermosa, when several individuals approached and tried to kidnap him. Atthe time of the incident, he, along with several of his colleagues, werehanging posters denouncing kidnappings. When Fonseca Estrada resisted theattempt to abduct him, his assailants shot him with high caliber weapons,then fled the scene in a Patriot pickup truck with Texas license plates.The radio announcer, who had been shot in the chest, was taken to hospitalby his driver, but he died the next morning.The posters that Fonseca Estrada was hanging at the time he was killedsaid, "Kidnappers live only for as long as citizens allow it", as well asanother slogan that supported Governor Andrés Granier's campaign againstcrime.It appears that four individuals were involved in the killing. State andfederal police officers, as well as army personnel arrived minutes afterFonseca Estrada was shot. They cordoned off the area of the killing andconducted investigations but have not yet succeeded in finding the killers.The government of Tabasco has condemned the killing of an "exceptionalmember" of the news media and notified "the enemies of peace and law andorder" that the fight against crime will be carried out to its end. According to information published in "La Jornada" newspaper, FonsecaEstrada often hung posters in different parts of the city, speaking outagainst kidnappings and crimes that have taken place recently.CEPET tried to contact MVS's director, Mariano Domínguez, for comments onthe assassination, but has not received a response.CEPET calls on the local and national authorities to determine who wasbehind Fonseca Estrada's murder and to stop the alarming wave of attacks onjournalists that has been taking place in Mexico.

For further information, contact Leonarda Reyes, Director, CEPET, Oficina"C", Calle del Puente No. 222, col. Ejidos de Huipulco, Delegación Tlalpan,México, D.F., México, C.P. 14380, tel: +52 55 5483 2020, ext. 2373,e-mail: libex@cepet.org, cepet@cepet.org,
Internet: http://www.cepet.orgThe information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility ofCEPET. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please creditCEPET.

Journalist and author Sanjuana Martínez Montemayor has saidthat the Samborns bookstore chain, which is owned by powerful businessman Carlos Slim and is one of the most popular bookstores in Mexico, has blocked the sale of two books in which she documented cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Mexico. Martínez Montemayor has had a long career as a journalist for Mexican mediaoutlets. In 2006, she won Mexico's National Award for Journalism, and sheis the author of several books, including "Manto Púrpura" ("Purple Cloak")and "Prueba de Fe" ("Test of Faith"). "Manto Púrpura" was published in November 2006 by the Grijalbo publishinghouse. Eight thousand copies of the book were printed, recounting thetestimonies of individuals who have accused Catholic priests of sexualabuse. In the book, Martínez Montemayor alleges that Cardinal NorbertoRivera, the archbishop of Mexico City, protected priest Nicolás Aguilar,who has been accused of sexually abusing 26 boys in the United States in1987. Rivera approved Aguilar's transfer to the United States, even thoughhe presumably knew of alleged sexual abuses committed by the priest inMexico.The second book, "Prueba de Fe", was published in 2007 by the Planetapublishing house. Twenty thousand copies of the book were printed, ofwhich, according to Martínez Montemayor, half are in storage as they werereturned without having been unpacked by the stores they were sent to. In"Prueba de Fe", the author documents allegations of a pederasty networkwith links to Catholic cardinals and bishops."These are not fictitious novels, they are the result of seriousjournalistic investigations," Martínez Montemayor said. In the past, theauthor has received threatening e-mail messages and telephone callsconnected to the information contained in her books.Martínez Montemayor told CEPET that, when faced with the possibility ofhaving a complaint filed against the store on freedom of expressiongrounds, a Samborns representative, Martín Ambriz, said that the storewould put the books in its self help and esoteric subjects section.According to Martínez Montemayor, however, the books do not belong in thissection. As such, she said, the store only put 200 copies of the books upfor sale instead of the 3,000 that the publishing houses had intended.Martínez Montemayor also noted that after Samborns restricted the sale ofthe books, other bookstores followed suit saying that they wereCatholic-based businesses.A Samborns manager, Maribel Pérez, said that she was not aware of the issueinvolving the books and suggested that CEPET speak to another person,however that individual has not responded to the organisation's calls.

For further information on the prior targeting of Martínez Montemayorbecause of her research into Catholic Church abuses, see:http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/91743For further information, contact Leonarda Reyes, Director, CEPET, Oficina"C", Calle del Puente No. 222, col. Ejidos de Huipulco, Delegación Tlalpan,México, D.F., México, C.P. 14380, tel: +52 55 5483 2020, ext. 2373,e-mail: libex@cepet.org, cepet@cepet.org, Internet: http://www.cepet.orgThe information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility ofCEPET. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please creditCEPET.