A JOURNALIST BESET

Reporter Covering Reynosa Finds Himself Behind Bars

Except in extraordinary cases, journalists in the United States don't face
danger on a daily basis: frustration, yes; threats to life and limb, no.

Such, however, is not the case in other venues. For confirmation of that,
consider a scary story that began virtually on our doorstep: On Saturday,
Leonardo Andrade, a veteran reporter for The Monitor of McAllen, emerged
from two days' imprisonment in Reynosa after being arrested on highly
suspect charges.

Andrade has not endeared himself to some in the border city (of which he is
a resident). Most recently, his stories have detailed how easily inmates in
the federal prison in Reynosa can get drugs and guns.

Last week, the reporter was arrested and jailed on charges he accepted a
$2,000 payment for helping a prisoner gain release from that prison, then
failed to follow through. The charges were filed last May, but the arrest
came only this month - after the critical articles on the prison appeared.

Andrade won his freedom by paying $2,000 to his accuser - but he continued
to protest his innocence. Against a backdrop of other stories of
journalists in Mexico being harassed and in some cases killed (generally by
drug lords), it's one more reason to cherish and defend the freedoms we all
too often take for granted in this country.