At least 16 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2004 because of their work and a further 30 for unconfirmed reasons, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Many have disappeared and countless more have been frightened into self censorship.
Reporting in Mexico is complicated whoever you are, but it can get seriously heavy. In 2009, a grenade was thrown at our offices. It could have come from anywhere: the cartels, government or army — we cover them all. Of course, the authorities are not investigating.
We had always been careful, but after that, we went over everything with a magnifying glass. What we publish is a fraction of what we know. We keep the rest on hold in hope of better times. When we write, we are not thinking about our editor or readers, we are thinking about el narco. Sinaloa State is at least better than states like Tamaulipas and Colima, where the cartels tell you directly what to say. There are no clear rules for staying safe, but I believe our paper knows who is in charge, what state contacts they have and how they tend to act.
In my column and books, I flirt with a literary style that allows me more freedom to show how the drug war is not a matter of good guys and bad guys, soldiers and hit men. It is a way of life. I don’t give names or hard facts, but on occasion others have identified the story. That is worrying because it could put my sources or myself in danger.
We can never go to the government because they [the drug gangs] are the government. They appoint and sack mayors and governors. They decide who is going to be the chief of police. Nothing can stand up to the narco. Not the government, not the police, not the army, not the church and not the media.
I think this is going to continue to get worse. It is a sad and desolate situation. The government said the killing is a sign of desperation, but the cartels don’t look desperate to me. I see them taking measures to strengthen their business.
I am very sensitive to all that happens and suffer from insomnia. Therapy helps and writing about it acts as a catharsis. My wife says we should leave, but where? I don’t want to go, at least not until Rio Doce closes. If that happens, I want to be here to close the curtains and turn off the lights.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under