A Mexican newspaper office was hit by gunfire in the capital of Sinaloa state

Content of the article

MEXICO CITY (AP) – Assailants fired a dozen guns at the home of the El Debate newspaper in the embattled northern Mexican state of Sinaloa, media outlets said Friday.

The newspaper is based in the country’s capital, Culiacan, where rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel have waged a bloody war.

The newspaper said it found at least four bullets in the wall of the building, and more shots fired at a newspaper vehicle parked in front of the office on Thursday. The newspaper said no one was injured.

Content of the article

The Mexican Media Alliance, a press freedom group, called it “a direct attack against press freedom and the public’s right to be informed.”

El Debate said the attackers arrived in two vehicles and stopped for a moment in front of the building. One gunman got out and opened fire with a shotgun, before they fled.

Threats to journalists and their sources have intensified since the latest round of factional fighting broke out after two Sinaloa drug capos – one from each faction – flew to the United States and were arrested there.

Drug lords Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez were arrested in the United States after flying in a small plane on July 25.

Zambada later claimed that he was kidnapped and forced to board a plane by Guzman Lopez, sparking a fierce battle between Zambada’s faction and the “Chapitos” group led by the son of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Journalists have reported being stopped by armed men on the streets outside of Culiacan and said they cannot cover the constant firefights that occur on the outskirts of the city every day.

Content of the article

Content of the article

In 2017, Javier Valdez, an award-winning journalist who specialized in covering drug trafficking and organized crime, was murdered in the capital of the state of Sinaloa.

There is no doubt that the warring cartel factions in Sinaloa want to intimidate the media from reporting on the war, and this has forced local residents to generally go to social media to report when they can go out, and where the danger is.

The social media platform was flooded on Friday with videos of burning vehicles, bodies and cartel convoys speeding through the city.

As usual, there was no confirmation from the country’s authorities, who have been constantly trying to reduce the violence. But the truth is leaking around the edges: The State University of Sinaloa told students it was canceling classes on Friday because of “violent acts in and around the Sinaloa state capital.”

Online videos sometimes depict scenes comparable to war: two weeks ago in a town north of Culiacan, a passing driver filmed a military helicopter hovering over four armed men wearing helmets and tactical vests just meters from a highway. The gunmen crashed their truck into a telephone pole, but returned to the helicopter.

Content of the article

However, online rumor mills are sometimes unreliable.

The Sinaloa Red Cross was forced to issue a statement last Thursday denying reports that two paramedics had been kidnapped along with an ambulance in a remote town where fighting has intensified.

But even the Red Cross was surprised – cautioning that “it is important to emphasize that the Mexican Red Cross does not take sides in the conflict.”

State prosecutors were largely left behind after the state’s chief prosecutor resigned after allegedly sending false information about the July 25 assassination of the state’s governor, Ruben Rocha.

And all municipal forces in Culiacan have been temporarily disarmed by soldiers to check their guns, something that has been done in the past when the army suspects that police officers are being used by drug cartels.

President Claudia Sheinbaum limited her response to the firings fired at the newspaper in a few words.

“The first thing, obviously, is to punish the act, and the investigation is underway,” Sheinbaum said.

The country is governed by Morena’s party, and he has supported Rocha.

Content of the article