By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat
A local reporter and news Facebook page administrator was seriously injured by gunfire early yesterday morning in Acapulco, Guerrero. He was hospitalized with six gunshot wounds, but is stable.
Showing posts with label journalist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label journalist. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 4, 2023
Monday, January 9, 2023
Kidnapped Reporters Appear In Chains In Narco Interrogation Video, La Familia Michoacána Suspected
By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat
Two kidnapped administrators of a Guerrero crime news Facebook page appeared in chains in an interrogation video likely released by La Familia Michoacána, a criminal group they frequently discussed. A third man is missing but was not in the video.
Monday, August 22, 2022
Local Journalist Fredid Román Gunned Down By Assassins In Chilpancingo, Guerrero
By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat
This afternoon, local journalist Fredid Román was shot and killed outside his home in the city of Chilpancingo, Guerrero, according to local news reports.
According to La Octava Digital, he was driving near his home in central Chilpancingo when he was gunned down by two assassins on motorbikes around 5:30 p.m. local time.
Neighbors called police after hearing the shots, but when paramedics and officers arrived, Román was dead.
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| @GHOSTDEVIIL Twitter |
El Universal reported that Fredid Román's son, Vladimir Román, was a chicken seller who was killed on July 1, 2022 in Chilpancingo. Recently, numerous chicken sellers have been killed and threatened by organized crime in this region, as reported by Borderland Beat.
La Octava Digital reported that he was the founder of La Realidad de Guerrero, a Facebook news page with over 9,000 followers that covered local Guerrero news. He is the 15th journalist killed this year. Many of the reporters killed in Mexico are independent or working for small, local news organizations. They do not have the protection and safety of journalists working for larger, high profile outlets, and make easy targets for disgruntled politicians and criminals.
Monday, August 8, 2022
Two Administrators Of Tijuana News & Memes Facebook Page Killed
By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat
Two founders of Tijuana664Oficial, a popular Tijuana meme and news Facebook page, were killed by gunmen at their home in north east Tijuana on the night of August 6. Their Facebook page posted about local news, including organized crime in the region.
The events occurred outside of their home on 1 de Mayo street in Cañón El Rubí neighborhood of northeast Tijuana. The victims have been identified by local authorities as Sergio “N” y Mario “N”, 40 and 43 years old respectively.
The vast majority of the posts on Tijuana664Oficial are local memes and jokes, but a look at current posts shows there is also reporting and discussion of local crime. It is possible that the two administrators were targeted because of posts related to local criminals. The Facebook page has 17,000 followers.
Since the killings, other administrators have deleted a large number of posts from the account, presumably posts related to local organized crime. An administrator also posted a statement, informing the members of the deaths and apologizing to anyone who was offended by posts. The message said "our intention never was to offend or make fun of anyone, however the founding administrators decided the posts, now this page will change to offer what it originally did, news and good and important things of Tijuana, we ask pardon if anyone felt offended by previous posts".
Facebook group administrators and journalists face similar threats in Mexico, but can have a adversarial relationship, notes The San Diego Union Tribune. While journalists often attach their name and fact check their work, Facebook groups such as Tijuana664 are more liberal with their posts, sometimes causing controversy and confusion with rumors and accusations. Their posts can attract the attention of criminals.
Sources: The San Diego Union Tribune, Excelsior, Tijuana664 Facebook page
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
Journalist Ernesto Méndez Killed By Gunmen In Bar Attack In Guanajuato
By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat
Journalist Ernesto Méndez, the director of local news outlet Tú Voz was killed by gunmen on the night of June 2 at a bar in Cerro Prieto, San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato. According to Article19, he had previously received threats related to his work.
According to witnesses, Méndez was at the bar with friends when gunmen entered around 11 p.m. and opened fire, killing four and injuring two.
Article19 tweeted that Méndez received threats related to his journalism, which he had reported to the Special Prosecutor for Attention for Crimes Against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE), an office of the Attorney Generals Office (FGR) which focuses on threats against journalists.
Méndez was the director Tú Voz, a news site that reported on the state of Guanajuato. He was also previously contributor to Zona Franca and Periódico Correo.
Méndez is the 13th journalist killed so far this year in Mexico, one of the most dangerous nations for reporters in the world. This year has far surpassed the 7 journalists killed in 2021.
This story will be updated as new details emerge.
Source: Proceso, El Universal, Tu Voz, Article 19 Tweet
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Bringing Life to BB
By Buggs for Borderland Beat
We are moving and trying to bring Borderland Beat back to life, hopefully new and improved for 2021. We thank you for your patience and loyal support during these trying times. Borderland Beat remains one of the best sources for current and accurate information on the Mexican drug cartels, all made possible with your support, our followers! We are forever grateful. The Borderland Beat audience is one of the best well informed audience when it comes to the Mexican drug cartels.
We understand that the decision to suspend the website was deeply felt by our large number of followers, most of which are composed of US law enforcement and others who follow the events of drug cartels. We are making some significant changes to the blog, a new look that will be easier to navigate and allow for more features.
We are also trying out a new forum that integrates better with the blog in a seamless way. Please register, use a user name and set your information to private, unless you want the information you enter public.
Stay tune, a lot of exciting things coming up.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Guerrero Journalist Assassinated
By: Ezequiel Flores Contreras |
Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat
Journalist Francisco
Pacheco Beltrán was assassinated Monday morning in the city of Taxco, in the
northern part of the state of Guerrero.
The violent incident
occurred around 06:30 hours on Monday, when Pacheco Beltrán left his home,
located on Tlalchichilpa Street in
the neighborhood 20 de Noviembre, and
was attacked by gunmen, according to an official report.
The 55 year old
journalist and brother of Eric Pacheco, a correspondent for Proceso in Querétaro, died by the
severity of his injuries while being treated by emergency workers in the place
where the attack occurred.
Francisco Pacheco was a
longtime journalist and had a legacy in the state, he was currently the editor
for the newspaper El foro de Taxco and
worked as a correspondent for a newspaper that is published in Acapulco as well as a radio station in
the capital.
During the early hours
of Monday, he was very active in social networks documenting and disseminating
the violent events that occurred this weekend in the port of Acapulco, as part
of his journalistic work.
The crime of the Taxco
journalist registers in a context of extreme violence in the state that has
been minimized by the authorities, among them PRI governor Héctor Astudillo
Flores, who recently asked reporters to take a pact of silence and not spread
news about the reality that Guerrero is suffering through.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Luis Cardona, the Mexican Journalist Who Narrates His Kidnapping with Drawings
 |
| More than 100 journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2000 |
By: Alberto Nájar | Translated by Valor for
Borderland Beat
The sound of the wind blows hard, while the background
of the screen is black. Almost
immediately a voice is heard:
“The 16th kidnapping was mine,” he
says, while a drawing of a bearded man appears as he raises his hand and then
picks up a rock.
The speaker is journalist Luis Cardona. In September 2012, he was kidnapped in Nuevo
Casas Grande, Chihuahua, in northern Mexico.
The reporter had published articles about a
series of disappearances of youths, who narco-trafficking gangs “pick up” in
order to take them to work in the cultivation of opium poppy and marijuana.
He couldn’t continue at his job.
After the kidnapping, he fled the city, and for
more than two years, he spent his time in exile in the Mexican capital.
His story is told in the short film “Soy el
Número 16," done with animated drawing by the group Sácalepunta.
The name of the video refers to the number that
the journalist occupied in the list of kidnappings.
It’s the first documentary of this type about
the plight that dozens of Mexican journalists live through in exile.
“I’d
prefer them to beat me”
Monday, February 1, 2010
Journalist Killed in Guerrero
The editor-in-chief of the El Sol de la Costa newspaper has been murdered in southern Mexico.
Chilpancingo, Gro — Journalist Jorge Ochoa Martínez was killed from a single gunshot to the head, Ochoa Martínez is the editor of the weekly El Sol de la Costa in the municipality of Ayutla in the Costa Grande. The wave of violence related to organized crime continues in Guerrero where news media reported seven murders in the last few hours.
Police in Ayutla found the body while responding to a call about a "dead man inside an automobile" a short distance from city hall. The Secretariat of Public Security and Protection in the state reported that Ochoa Martinez was found Friday night in his car with a bullet to his head not long after having dinner in the restaurant one block from City Hall in Ayutla.
No arrests have been made and the motive for the killing has not been determined.
Jorge Ochoa Martínez
Chilpancingo, Gro — Journalist Jorge Ochoa Martínez was killed from a single gunshot to the head, Ochoa Martínez is the editor of the weekly El Sol de la Costa in the municipality of Ayutla in the Costa Grande. The wave of violence related to organized crime continues in Guerrero where news media reported seven murders in the last few hours.
Police in Ayutla found the body while responding to a call about a "dead man inside an automobile" a short distance from city hall. The Secretariat of Public Security and Protection in the state reported that Ochoa Martinez was found Friday night in his car with a bullet to his head not long after having dinner in the restaurant one block from City Hall in Ayutla.
No arrests have been made and the motive for the killing has not been determined.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Silence, Exile or the Grave
Mexico: Journalists' Options - Silence, Exile or the Grave
Inter Press Service
One reporter was murdered and another went missing in early January, feeding expectations that violence against journalists in this Latin American country can only get worse in the immediate future.
Valentín Valdés, a journalist for the newspaper Zócalo in the city of Saltillo, 850 kilometres north of Mexico City, in the state of Coahuila, was found dead Jan. 8, the day after he and a colleague, who was later freed, had been kidnapped by persons unknown.
Before he was murdered, Valdés, who covered the local news in Saltillo, wrote an article about the arrest of several drug traffickers in the city. His killers left a message on his body: "This is what will happen to those who don't understand. This message is for everyone."
Inter Press Service
Mexico City - Journalists are the target of such violence in Mexico that many have been forced to seek refuge in the United States, or to give up their profession. And the outlook at the start of this year is even grimmer for media workers in this country.
One reporter was murdered and another went missing in early January, feeding expectations that violence against journalists in this Latin American country can only get worse in the immediate future.
Valentín Valdés, a journalist for the newspaper Zócalo in the city of Saltillo, 850 kilometres north of Mexico City, in the state of Coahuila, was found dead Jan. 8, the day after he and a colleague, who was later freed, had been kidnapped by persons unknown.
Before he was murdered, Valdés, who covered the local news in Saltillo, wrote an article about the arrest of several drug traffickers in the city. His killers left a message on his body: "This is what will happen to those who don't understand. This message is for everyone."
Monday, January 18, 2010
Journalist Dead Body Found
Los Mochis, Sinaloa - The bloody and broken corpse of a radio journalist known for his broadcasts on drug trafficking was found Saturday on a highway a few miles (kilometers) from the city where he was kidnapped, prosecutors said.
Linea Directa radio station reporter Jose Luis Romero was forced at gunpoint out of a Los Mochis restaurant on Dec. 30. A few hours later, gunmen killed the chief police investigator in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa who had started investigating the kidnapping.
Sinaloa assistant state prosecutor Rolando Bon Lopez said Romero’s body was found shoved into a black bag with his hands bound and broken, two bullets in his head and another in his shoulder.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Sicarios Kidnap Mexican Radio Journalist
Los Mochis, Sinaloa -- Gunmen killed the chief police investigator in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa hours after he started investigating the kidnapping of a local radio journalist, Mexican media reported Friday.
Linea Directa radio station said its reporter, Jose Luis Romero, was kidnapped by armed men in the city of Los Mochis. Hours later, gunmen killed Jesus Escalante, the chief of investigations for the Sinaloa state police, Linea Directa and El Universal newspaper reported.
Sinaloa state Attorney General Alfredo Higuera told local media the two cases could be linked. Phones rang unanswered on the New Year's Day holiday, at the attorney general's offices.
Local media described Romero, 40, as a crime reporter for Linea Directa. Reports said he was kidnapped at a restaurant by armed men who forced him into a car.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Mexico Crime Reporters Face Deadly Perils
As many as 12 reporters and media workers have been slain in 2009. The steady intimidation of journalists has caused many of them to pull their punches and refrain from writing the whole truth.
Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Durango, Mexico - Journalist Bladimir Antuna put up with the death threats. He wasn't afraid of dying, he told friends, but he really didn't want to be tortured.
The government assigned bodyguards to the crime reporter for El Tiempo newspaper in Durango, but as time wore on and there were so many other crises, the escorts were withdrawn. A couple of days later, he was snatched by gunmen; his strangled, bruised body was discovered at nightfall.
With the corpse was a hand-scrawled message: "This happened to me for giving information to soldiers and writing too much."
Antuna, who died last month, was the third journalist killed in Durango since May and one of as many as 12 reporters and media workers slain in Mexico in 2009-- a chilling trend that has made this country the deadliest in Latin America, and one of the deadliest in the world, for reporters.
Los Angeles Times
A funeral is held for reporter Bladimir Antuna. A note found with his body read, "This happened to me for giving information to soldiers and writing too much."
Reporting from Durango, Mexico - Journalist Bladimir Antuna put up with the death threats. He wasn't afraid of dying, he told friends, but he really didn't want to be tortured.
The government assigned bodyguards to the crime reporter for El Tiempo newspaper in Durango, but as time wore on and there were so many other crises, the escorts were withdrawn. A couple of days later, he was snatched by gunmen; his strangled, bruised body was discovered at nightfall.
With the corpse was a hand-scrawled message: "This happened to me for giving information to soldiers and writing too much."
Antuna, who died last month, was the third journalist killed in Durango since May and one of as many as 12 reporters and media workers slain in Mexico in 2009-- a chilling trend that has made this country the deadliest in Latin America, and one of the deadliest in the world, for reporters.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Covering Mexico's Cartel Wars Puts Journalists in the Line of Fire
CNN
"El Sorias," as he is affectionately called by his colleagues, is a photojournalist for the Mexican city's two main daily newspapers, El Diario and El PM. For the last 10 years, his job has been to photograph the bodies and crime scenes left behind after cartel hit men completed their work.
"I see the photos of the dead as art, not as dead people. I feel sad for the families, they cry and sometimes I cry too," Soria told CNN in a recent telephone interview.
"My record is 16 dead in one shift."
A regular shift goes from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., or later if there are any last-minute bodies. The day is spent listening to police scanners and waiting for the code that will send Soria and a reporter rushing through the city's congested streets to a new crime scene.
"Z-59 is the code for execution and Z-23 is the code for a dead person," he said.
Soria knows that arriving at a crime scene too soon could mean a surprise encounter with the killers -- one that could cost him his life.
He is part of a group of journalists operating in one of the world's most dangerous cities. Every day the passion for their profession competes with the fear of death.
Lucio Soria is a recorder of the dead in Ciudad Juarez's drug cartel war.
"El Sorias," as he is affectionately called by his colleagues, is a photojournalist for the Mexican city's two main daily newspapers, El Diario and El PM. For the last 10 years, his job has been to photograph the bodies and crime scenes left behind after cartel hit men completed their work.
"I see the photos of the dead as art, not as dead people. I feel sad for the families, they cry and sometimes I cry too," Soria told CNN in a recent telephone interview.
"My record is 16 dead in one shift."
A regular shift goes from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., or later if there are any last-minute bodies. The day is spent listening to police scanners and waiting for the code that will send Soria and a reporter rushing through the city's congested streets to a new crime scene.
"Z-59 is the code for execution and Z-23 is the code for a dead person," he said.
Soria knows that arriving at a crime scene too soon could mean a surprise encounter with the killers -- one that could cost him his life.
He is part of a group of journalists operating in one of the world's most dangerous cities. Every day the passion for their profession competes with the fear of death.
