Monthly luncheons are generally held on the second Monday of every month, unless advised to the contrary, in Erickson Hall at Point Lookout in Northport, Maine.
Alfredo Corchado
April 2009
Topic: Covering the Border Without Being Hijacked, Kidnapped or Killed - Mexico through the eyes of a Foreign Correspondent
Alfredo Corchado has worked for the Dallas Morning News since 1994. As Mexico City Bureau Chief, Alfredo covers U.S. policy in Latin America, with a special focus on Mexico and binational issues like migration and drug trafficking. Mr. Corchado has also written extensively about Cuba, having traveled the island on numerous occasions leading up to the opening of The Morning News’ fulltime Havana bureau – one of the first bureaus for an American print media outlet. From 2000 to 2003, Alfredo was based in The Morning News’ Washington, D.C. bureau, where he covered binational issues, or what editors called “the Mexico within and the Mexico abroad.” The Dallas Morning News is the biggest newspaper in the U.S. Southwest and is owned by Belo, which also owns 19 TV stations throughout the country and the TXCN cable news channel. Mr. Corchado was the lead reporter for the Dallas Morning News in its coverage of the 2000 presidential election in Mexico. He was the first journalist to interview then President Vicente Fox following his historic win. Mr. Corchado also participated in projects including, “The Mexicanization of the United States” and the “Disappearing Border.” Additionally, Mr. Corchado has written extensively on Cuba. He was part of a team that helped open one of only two bureaus for U.S. news organizations in Cuba and has traveled the country extensively, covering everything from religion on the island to youth attitudes about Fidel Castro and his legacy. Before joining The Morning News, Mr. Corchado worked for the Ogden Standard-Examiner in Ogden, Utah, El Paso Herald-Post and the Wall Street Journal in its Philadelphia and Dallas bureaus. Late in 2003, Mr. Corchado began his coverage of a string of unsolved killing of women in the border town of Ciudad Juarez, across El Paso, Texas. In his investigation, Mr. Corchado uncovered the role of drug cartels into some of these killings. He also discovered another startling story: An informant of the U.S. government took part in the killing – -under orders of the powerful Juarez drug cartel – of suspected drug traffickers whose bodies were buried in the backyard of a home in Ciudad Juarez. His reporting led to an internal U.S. inquiry and the removal of heads of the Immigration Customs Enforcement agency. In 2005, his reporting on drug violence led him to the Nuevo Laredo-Laredo border and the discovery of crimes committed in Texas cities under the order of Mexican drug cartels and the paramilitary group known as the Zetas. His reporting in Mexico has led to several death threats. His work also earned the Dallas Morning News a finalist award from the Center for Public Integrity in Washington. He is a 1987 graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso and El Paso Community College. Mr. Corchado is a 2007 Maria Moors Cabot winner awarded by the University of Columbia. He is a 2009 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.