On 11 April, the front page of the Heraldo de Chiapas ran the headline “Chiapas, at the edge of collapse because of Manuel Velasco’s lack of experience.” The article below this headline claims that “Four months have shown that the lack of experience in public administration on the part of governor Manuel Velasco Coello has generated an economic paralysis which keeps the managerial class at the edge of disaster and the countryside unproductive. Besides, jobs are on the decline, leading to desperation among the people […]. It should suffice to mention that the General Secretary of Governance and the State Attorney General’s Office which are the two institutions that ought to create governability and certainty within the legal and political transition of the state–yet they remain in the hands of officials installed by Juan Sabines. This all has resulted in recurrent criticisms, arguing that there is no reason to depend so on the previous administration, or indeed that [Manuel Velasco] is protected the interests of a government that wasted public resources, leaving the state bankrupt.”Once the newspaper and its article began its rounds, it was denounced that in Tuxtla Gutiérrez presumed governmental officials censored a large number of the edition for the merchants of the Mexican Editorial Organization (OEM) and furthermore bought up all the copies that were transferred to the Union of Spokespeople. The denunciation details that people with short hair (reminiscent of the police) surreptitiously followed the spokespeeople and merchants so as to “buy the newspapers” or snatch them up. It was also indicated that the vehicles that were carrying the newspapers to municipalities close to the capital were intercepted. Two merchants affirmed that they were “held up with pistols by presumed police who took charge of decommissioning the newspapers.”For this reasons, the State Council on Human Rights (CEDH) opened an official complaint and issued precautionary measures for the governor, Manuel Velasco Coello. The executive secretary of the CEDH, Diego Cadenas Gordillo, noted that “an official complaint was lodged, toward the end of investigating the events that are detailed in the note referred from the journalist Fermín Rodríguez; in it is described the events that could result in violations to human rights, particularly regarding access to information, freedom of the press, and freedom of impression, as well as of publication.”
For more information (in Spanish):
“Chiapas, al borde del colapso por inexperiencia de Manuel Velasco” (OEM, 11 de abril de 2013)
Decomisa el gobierno la edición de ayer de El Heraldo de Chiapas y Diario del Sur (El Heraldo de Chiapas, 12 de abril de 2013)
Emite CEDH medida precautoria contra Manuel Velasco por decomiso de diarios de OEM en Chiapas (OEM, 13 de abril de 2013)
“Compra masiva” de ejemplares de diarios de Chiapas que critican al gobernador (Proceso, 14 de abril de 2013)
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