Likely Mexican Governor Accused of Murder, Reporter Is Fired

INTERNATIONAL January 1993

A Mexican English-language newspaper fired a U.S. reporter after he wrote an account for the New York Times based on a DEA document alleging that a powerful Mexican politician ordered the murder of a Mexican journalist in 1984 (AP, "Mexican Murder Allegations Cost Reporter Job," Tulsa World, 12/4/92, A7).

Zachary Margulis, a reporter for the Mexican newspaper The News was fired after writing an op-ed piece in the November 28, 1992 New York Times alleging that Manuel Batlett Diaz, slated to become governor of Puebla state in January 1993, ordered the 1984 murder. Diaz has long been rumored to have ties to drug traffickers, according to DEA information. A spokesman for The News refused to comment.