Journalists working in the drug-plagued city of Rosario in central Argentina have received death threats from narco criminals.
Nelson Castro and members of the TN news channel team received intimidating messages after they reported from the south of the city covering recent murders.
One message warned the news crew that they were “not wanted” in Rosario and that they should “get out.”
“You’ll end up like [José Luis] Cabezas,” read another of the messages, sent from an unknown number to Castro’s news colleague Sebastián Domenech.
The message refers to Jose Luis Cabezas, a photo-journalist with the Noticias news magazine who was murdered on January 25, 1997, near Pinamar.
His death, which came after he had photographed businessman Alfredo Yabrán, was one of the most brutal assaults on freedom of the press since the return of democracy.
In a subsequent radio interview, Castro said the “striking” messages had arrived after the team had filed a report.
Regarding his tour of the city, which is in the grip of drug-related violence, the veteran journalist expressed shock at how Rosario had ground to a half.
“There are no buses, no classes [at schools], few taxis, closed petrol stations. It’s very shocking because drug-dealing has managed to halt a part of Rosario and cause terrible fear.”
“We’re horrified that this will expand because for the entirety of Rosario it’s been a scourge for a while,” he added.
Narco criminals “don’t care about judges, politics, legislators or security forces – they’re the bosses,” stated Castro.
The journalist said experts had warned them what parts of the city were safe to report in but that “it’s impossible to know everything.”
“We’re working very carefully, but this is our job and our mission and we don’t want to, shall we say, fall victim to fear either,” he added.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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