The offices of Culiacan, Sinaloa newspaper El Debate were the subject of a midnight gun and grenade attack on Sunday, November 16, 2008, according to a report by Jeremy Schwartz’s Uncovering Mexico blog.  No was injured in the attack, which is believed to have been a reprisal by a drug cartel against the newspaper. 

The report also reflected upon a wave of recent assasinations of individuals involved in the free press, all of which are also believed to have been perpetrated by the cartels. 

  • Last week, Armando Rodriguez, a crime reporter for El Diario in Ciudad Juarez was shot and killed in front of his home as he waited to take his daughter to school. 
  • In September, radio host Alejandro Fonseca was killed in the southern state of Tabasco as he hung political banners denouncing a wave of kidnappings in his state. 
  • In April, two radio reporters were killed in Oaxaca.