Week of June 27 - July 3, 2001



Press Clips

by Cynthia Cotts







































&

-----Original Message-----

From: Alberto M. Giordano [mailto:narconews@h...]

Sent: Friday, June 29, 2001 10:41 AM

To: narconews@h...

Cc: narconews@yahoogroups.com

Subject: [narconews] Narco News Suspends Publication of New Reports





June 29, 2001

Please Distribute Widely

Dear Colleagues,

It is with great regret that we must make this announcement.

The Narco News Bulletin is hereby suspending the publication of new reports

on the drug war from Latin America.

The suspension is temporary, and based on Court deadlines of July 12th and

July 20th.

All the archives of previous Narco News stories - hundreds of them - will

remain for your research and reading purposes at http://www.narconews.com

We will continue, through the web site and through our free subscription

list to alert you of new developments in the legal battle.

But we cannot do two things at once - report on the drug war and wage an

effective defense in Court - without failing in both tasks.

Therefore, for an unknown period of time - and we will strive, with you, to

make that time as short as humanly possible - the Narco Newsroom will

dedicate itself full-time to the defense of our rights to speech and

cyber-liberties.

As you know, The Narco News Bulletin is under a savage attack through a

lawsuit brought by the National Bank of Mexico ("Banamex") with a lawsuit

brought in New York.

We face a July 12th deadline to respond to the most recent barrage of false

accusations by Banamex and its attorneys at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and

Feld, LLP.

And we have a Court date scheduled on July 20th, at the New York Supreme

Court in Manhattan, to make oral arguments on our motions to dismiss this

case.

Never before in the history of First Amendment law has a plaintiff as

wealthy as Banamex (with a daily flow of One Billion U.S. dollars in foreign

currency alone, and recently having signed a deal to be purchased by

Citigroup for $12.5 billion dollars) sued defendants as economically

marginalized as The Narco News Bulletin, Mexican journalist Mario Menendez,

and me.

Many of you have contributed to our defense fund, "Drug War on Trial," and

this has made it possible to have a fighting chance in this case.

However, we have not received sufficient funds to be at all competitive with

the billionaire assault on us in Court.

Thus, with these deadlines approaching, we cannot continue to do two things

at once: Report on the drug war from Latin America *and* wage an effective

defense in Court.

Therefore, starting today, The Narco News Bulletin must, sadly, suspend the

investigating and reporting of new stories, and I, as its publisher, must

become a full-time defendant.

Banamex and its lawyers are trying to delay the day upon which the Court

reviews the underlying facts of this case. Whereas we are working around the

clock to prepare our case in a manner in which the true facts about the drug

war on our América come to light.

This is not a permanent suspension. It is temporary. And we may still post

new stories to Narco News between now and the July 20th hearing if time

permits or if the subject matter is so urgent that it must be reported.

However, we must also be realistic. If we do not mount our best defense NOW,

at this crucial stage of the proceedings, we jeopardize the Narco News

project in citizen-journalism on the drug war for years to come.

If we had more resources available to our defense, this step would not have

been necessary. However, we do not. We're not going to complain. We are

going to stand and fight in the face of these unfair financial odds.

The pages of Narco News, in the coming weeks, will be updated to share with

you each new development in the Drug War on Trial case.

And subscribers will hear from us, although less frequently than usual,

because we are so buried in our defense.

You can and do make the crucial difference in the degree and length of this

suspension. If we had, today, $20,000 for our defense fund, this suspension

would not be necessary.

We make do with what we can. But our economic situation places us in a very

vulnerable position right now.

You can make the difference. Please make a contribution today to our defense

fund by making a check out to "Drug War on Trial" and by sending it to:

Drug War on Trial

c/o Attorney Tom Lesser

Lesser, Newman, Souweine & Nasser

39 Main Street

Northampton, MA 01060 U.S.A.

Or click this link to make an immediate credit card contribution directly to

the Drug War on Trial account:

https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=narconews%40hotmail.com

Mexican journalists and supporters of our defense are also in the process of

setting up a bank account in Mexico to accomodate those of you in that

country who have expressed a desire to make a contribution in pesos. We will

alert you as soon as that account is available. You will be able to do that

from any city in Mexico. Every little bit helps.

But, as of today, I am forced to suspend the work I love, reporting on the

drug war from Latin America, because wealthy interests seek to abuse the New

York Courts in order to attempt to silence us.

They will not succeed.

This is a temporary interruption, and we will continue to report precisely

on stories relevant to this case. But we cannot continue to churn out 20 new

articles on the drug war per month, as we have done since being sued, and

certainly not the more than 30 articles per month we were able to publish

before this lawsuit began to absorb our time and energy.

The money is not there. But we will triumph regardless of the odds. Because

the truth on our side, the facts are on our side, and justice will prevail.

But only if we fight the battle with our all.

I ask you to join us in this fight.

Come to New York on July 20th for the hearing.

Make a contribution today so that we can fight effectively in Court.

And know that, with your help, we will soon return to our regularly

scheduled programming: reporting on the drug war from Latin America.

And if you know of any available miracles, please do be in touch.

from somewhere in a country called América,

I am,

your servant in authentic journalism,

Al Giordano

Publisher

The Narco News Bulletin

http://www.narconews.com/

narconews@h...

Drug War on Trial

c/o Attorney Tom Lesser

Lesser, Newman, Souweine & Nasser

39 Main Street

Northampton, MA 01060 U.S.A.

Credit Card Contributions:

https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=narconews%40hotmail.com