Pubdate: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 Source: Corpus Christi Caller-Times (TX) Copyright: 2000 Corpus Christi Caller-Times Address: P.O. Box 9136, Corpus Christi, TX 78469-9136 Feedback: http://www.caller.com/commcentral/email_ed.htm Website: http://www.caller.com/ Bookmark: additional articles on Mexico are available at http://www.mapinc.org/mexico.htm 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. - --- MAP posted-by: Thunder