The media reported on Friday that assailants fired more than a dozen shots at the building of the El Debate newspaper in Mexico’s hotly contested northern state of Sinaloa.
The paper is based in the state capital, Culiacan, where rival factions of the Sinaloa cartel are engaged in bloody battles.
Six days after taking office, Mexico’s mayor’s severed head is placed on top of a pickup truck.
The newspaper said there were at least four bullet holes in the wall of the building, and more shots were fired at a newspaper vehicle parked in front of the office late Thursday. The newspaper said no one was injured.
The Mexican Media Alliance, a press freedom group, denounced this as a “direct attack on press freedom and the public’s right to information.”
El Debate newspaper reported that the attackers arrived in two cars and stopped briefly in front of the building. One of the gunmen descended and opened fire with a rifle, then fled.
Threats against journalists and their sources have increased since the latest round of sectarian violence erupted after two Sinaloa drug smugglers, one from each faction, flew to the United States and were arrested there. It is rapidly increasing.
Drug lords Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López were arrested on July 25 after flying to the United States in a small plane.
Zambada later claimed that he had been abducted and forced onto a plane by Guzmán López, and that Zambada factions and the Chapitos group, led by the sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, A fierce battle ensued between them.
National Guard soldiers patrol the streets of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP photo)
Journalists reported being stopped by gunmen on roads outside Culiacan and said they were unable to cover the near-daily gun battles on the outskirts of the city.
In 2017, Javier Valdez, an award-winning reporter for the weekly magazine Rio Doce who specialized in reporting on drug trafficking and organized crime, was murdered in the capital of Sinaloa state.
“As in any war, we journalists are caught in the crossfire,” said Rio Doce director Ismael Bojórquez.
There is little doubt that Sinaloa’s warring cartel factions hope to intimidate the media into not reporting on their fighting, leaving local residents wondering when it is safe to go out. People are now forced to rely primarily on social media for information about where they are safe. It’s dangerous.
Those social media platforms were filled Friday with videos of burning vehicles, bodies and cartel convoys speeding through the city.
As always, there was no confirmation of that from state authorities, who have consistently sought to downplay the violence.
On Thursday, hours before the newspaper attack, Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha said there was “nothing to worry about” and “everything is under control”.
But the truth is leaking out from around us. Sinaloa State University told students on Friday that in-person classes were being canceled due to “violence in and around the Sinaloa state capital.”
These online videos sometimes depict scenes that can be compared to war. Two weeks ago, in the northern town of Culiacan, a passing motorist photographed a military helicopter hovering over four gunmen wearing helmets and tactical vests, just meters from the highway. The gunmen crashed the truck into a utility pole, but then fired back at the helicopter.
However, online rumors may not be reliable.
The Sinaloa Red Cross was forced to issue a statement late Thursday denying reports that two emergency workers had been kidnapped along with their ambulance in a remote town where fighting was particularly intense.
But even the Red Cross was frightened. “It is important to emphasize that the Mexican Red Cross does not take sides in the conflict,” it said carefully.
The state prosecutor’s office was at a near standstill after the state attorney general resigned after allegedly submitting false information about the July 25 killing of an opponent of Governor Rocha.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Additionally, all city employees in Culiacan have been temporarily disarmed by soldiers to have their guns inspected, something that has been done in the past when the military suspects police officers are working for drug cartels. That’s what happened.
President Claudia Sheinbaum had only a few words in her response to the shots fired at the newspaper office. “First of all, it’s obviously to condemn these acts, and an investigation is underway,” Sheinbaum said.
The state is ruled by Morena’s party, and she is a strong supporter of Rocha.
