Attack and threats on Mexican TV channel Televisa Monterrey

by patgarcia | January 7, 2009 at 09:11 pm

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A command of armed, hooded men attacked TV facilities Televisa Monterrey with open fire and a hand grenade causing damage to the building and a dozen vehicles that were parked at the zone of the attack, there are no reports of victims.

The criminal left a cardboard with the text " stop broadcasting only about us, broadcast about narco-political leaders too, this is a warning.

Update: January 8

State Police elements have located the vehicle that was presumably used on the attempt, a red Trans Am Pontiac parked just a few blocks away from Televisa Monterrey

Elementos de la policía estatal localizaron a unas cuadras de Televisa Monterrey, un vehículo Pontiac rojo modelo Trans Am que, presuntamente fueron utilizados en el atentado.

"We've had death threats before, by phone," Cobo said. "But we haven't had any threats for several months. And we haven't aired any big news about the narcos, just some smaller stories about some arrests."

As the station was under attack, the two news anchors asked the police for help while on the air.

Freedom of press is under siege in Mexico. Calls grow for a new law to make such attacks on the media a federal crime.

In defense of liberty of expression:

The Interamerican Press Society ( SIP) censured the attack and demanded Mexican authorities to investigate the attack against the television channel.

La Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa (SIP) censuró el ataque e hizo un llamado a las autoridades mexicanas para que indaguen de manera expedita y den con los instigadores del atentado contra la televisora.

MONTERREY, N.L.— Un comando de hombres encapuchados baleó y arrojó una granada de fragmentación contra las instalaciones de Televisa Monterrey ocasionando daños al edificio y a una docena de vehículos estacionados en la zona del ataque, sin que se registraran lesionados.

En el lugar, los delincuentes dejaron una cartulina con la leyenda: “dejen de transmitir nada más a nosotros también transmitan a los narco mandatarios, esto es un aviso”.

MEXICO CITY – Press freedom groups are condemning an attack on a Mexican television station in the northern city of Monterrey.

Masked gunmen opened fire and tossed a grenade at the Televisa network's studio as it aired a nightly newscast. The assailants left behind a message warning the station about its coverage of drug gangs.

Mexico City - A grenade attack on Mexico's top television station during the nightly news Tuesday is the latest – and most high-profile – threat against freedom of expression in Mexico since President Felipe Calderón launched a concerted offensive against drug traffickers two years ago.

Media watch groups consider Mexico among the most dangerous places for journalists to operate. Reporters on the drug beat are increasingly the victims of intimidation as warring drug traffickers vie for power and lucrative routes into the US market.