Lydia Cacho

Posted on November 21, 2006 by David Randall

Ali, an reader, posted this as a comment to Worldwide Press Freedom Index article. It deserves more attention so I’m posting it here:

This month’s Glamour magazine presents a revealing article about the lack of press freedom in Mexico. In focuses on Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho (Glamour Magazine, pg. 224). This courageous woman writes about the toughest criminals of Mexico: the established pedophile rings in Cancun, the poverty of Cancun’s local residents who were forced to move outside the attractive tourist area, the HIV epidemic, domestic violence, and government corruption. Writing about these topics takes a great amount of courage because of the lack of journalistic freedom in Mexico; Cacho experiences constant threats on her life. In the past, she has been brutally beaten, raped, and sued for libel for her exposes. Last year, a Mexican governor was caught allegedly plotting to have her arrested and killed. The means taken to put restrictions on freedom of the press are atrocious.

Mexico ranks number 132 on the Worldwide Press and Freedom Index. Brave journalists such as Cacho deserve to be admired for their hard work and the selfless risks they take every day to create awareness about their countries’ crises that would otherwise lurk in the dark.

The Glamour article is here: http://www.glamour.com/news/feature/articles/2006/10/30/globaldiarymexico06dec. It is worth reading.

Thanks Ali.

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  • maucordero

    It is certainly frustrating to recognize that indeed, freedom of speech could convey severe consequences in less developed countries.

    For this reason, there enourmous progress should be made in terms of Human Rights in less-developed countries all around the world.

    However, after watching the video of “Police Misconduct” it is evident that, although in a much smaller extent, abuse of power from authorities is not exclusive to a few less-developed countries, but it is also present in one of the nations with the most complex Human Rights, the U.S.