DON'T LET CARTELS WIN WAR

After Iraq, the most dangerous place in the world for news reporters
last year was Mexico, according to the watchdog group Reporters
Without Borders.

And among the most dangerous places in Mexico for reporters? Mexican
cities and towns flush up against the Arizona border.

Several weeks ago, we threw a spotlight on the dangers facing Mexican
authorities as they battle the increasingly violent and increasingly
well-armed drug cartels in their midst. But the war does not end with
those in uniform.

As The Arizona Republic's Chris Hawley and Sean Holstege reported on
June 8, the Fourth Estate is under siege in Mexico, too. And, in many
respects, it is a battle the cartels appear to be winning.

Hawley and Holstege found at least 30 incidents of outright attacks,
threats and other efforts to silence Mexican journalists, including
one in which two hand grenades exploded in April outside the doors of
Cambio Sonora, a newspaper owned by one of Mexico's largest chains,
Oranizacion Editorial Mexicana. The chain has shut down the Sonoran
newspaper as a result.

Reporters are being kidnapped and killed. At the same time as the
grenade attacks, reporter Saul Martinez of the Interdiario newspaper
in Agua Prieta, which is immediately across the border from Douglas,
was shot dead.

The mayhem is having its intended effect. Many newspapers that
continue to publish are steering away from crime stories, especially
stories involving the drug cartels.

The violence against newspapers has not erupted out of the blue. The
government of President Felipe Calderon is fighting a determined war
against the cartels, a war that previous Mexican administrations
chose not to wage.

Ironically, the Mexican newspapers and electronic media now being
swept up in the war have been enjoying unprecedented freedom from
government interference in recent years. Indeed, that may be part of
the reason the cartels are targeting them now. A bold, energetic and
free press is often a primary target for the oppressive and the
powerful, whether they be criminals or federal officials.

The violence against Mexican journalists may be part of a disturbing
Latin American trend. The attacks come at the same time Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez shut down one of the largest privately run
television stations in his country. Chavez has threatened the same
fate for other media that fail to toe his line of fealty to the state.

It is not inconceivable that the violence will seep north into
Arizona. The cartels are under siege not only from Calderon's
federales but also from an unprecedented level of cooperation from
police in this country. If the criminals continue to see success in
silencing Mexican media, it may be a matter of time before they start
trying to intimidate media in the U.S. as well.

The war against the drug cartels is not a Mexican war. It is spawned
by the insatiable market for illegal drugs in the United States. And
the growing armies of the cartels are armed with sophisticated
weaponry, much of it purchased in the U.S.

The assault against Mexican journalists, part and parcel to the
free-ranging drug war, is a U.S. fight too.

The cartels know what Venezuela's Chavez knows: Control the media and
half the battle already is won.