The continuing crisis in Mexico - Now with more dead journalists
August 3, 2015 3:43 PM Subscribe
Last saturday Ruben Espinosa, a Mexican photojournalist, was found dead in his apartment in a middle-class neighborghood in Mexico City. With him, four women were also found dead, three of which lived in the same apartment, and a domestic employee. All five showed signs of torture and had been killed with a shot to the head, execution style.
Espinosa had recently gone into self-exile from the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, where he felt under threat, according to Proceso, the widely read magazine he worked for [link in Spanish] and which had published his cover photo [link in Spanish] of Veracruz's Governor, Javier Duarte that, according to sources and Espinosa himself [link in Spanish], had made the governor very angry: he looked fat in the picture.
With 11 journalists killed since Gov. Javier Duarte took office in 2010, the Gulf coast state has been a dangerous place for journalists, to say the least. Two more, including Espinosa, have been killed outside the state and three have gone missing, despite reports by many advocacy and human rights groups, including Article 19 which had recently published the many threats against Ruben Espinosa in Veracruz.
Javier Duarte's response to these killings has typically been to accuse the murdered reporters of themselves having ties to drug cartels, stating, "Behave yourselves, please, I ask of you."
On sunday there was a protest in Mexico City in which the protestors blamed the government for the murders.
Espinosa had recently gone into self-exile from the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, where he felt under threat, according to Proceso, the widely read magazine he worked for [link in Spanish] and which had published his cover photo [link in Spanish] of Veracruz's Governor, Javier Duarte that, according to sources and Espinosa himself [link in Spanish], had made the governor very angry: he looked fat in the picture.
With 11 journalists killed since Gov. Javier Duarte took office in 2010, the Gulf coast state has been a dangerous place for journalists, to say the least. Two more, including Espinosa, have been killed outside the state and three have gone missing, despite reports by many advocacy and human rights groups, including Article 19 which had recently published the many threats against Ruben Espinosa in Veracruz.
Javier Duarte's response to these killings has typically been to accuse the murdered reporters of themselves having ties to drug cartels, stating, "Behave yourselves, please, I ask of you."
On sunday there was a protest in Mexico City in which the protestors blamed the government for the murders.
FUE EL ESTADO is quickly becoming one of the political mottos of our time. You can't say it more simply, and you can't say it enough.
posted by RogerB at 4:13 PM on August 3, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by RogerB at 4:13 PM on August 3, 2015 [6 favorites]
Lots of blame to go around but my mind always goes back to this speech from H. W. Bush.
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:15 PM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:15 PM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Thee are a whole lot of question marks about Duarte including his campaign funding by the zetas.
Of course if the country to the north didn't have it's crusading war on Drugs and legalized the substance and taxed it maybe none of this horror in Mexico would be happening.
posted by adamvasco at 4:44 PM on August 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
Of course if the country to the north didn't have it's crusading war on Drugs and legalized the substance and taxed it maybe none of this horror in Mexico would be happening.
posted by adamvasco at 4:44 PM on August 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
I just saw someone say that the special prosecutor for crimes against journalist declared that his murder apparently had nothing to do with his journalistic activities. Yeah, that seems really likely.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 4:55 PM on August 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 4:55 PM on August 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Of course if the country to the north didn't have it's crusading war on Drugs and legalized the substance and taxed it maybe none of this horror in Mexico would be happening.
Repealing abolition didn't destroy the mob, they just diversified.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 5:02 PM on August 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
Repealing abolition didn't destroy the mob, they just diversified.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 5:02 PM on August 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
The Zetas are already diversifying, actually, they run everything from protection rackets to kidnapping and human trafficking, although I think the consensus is that their main source of income by far is still drugs.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:04 PM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:04 PM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
"Of course if the country to the north didn't have it's crusading war on Drugs and legalized the substance and taxed it maybe none of this horror in Mexico would be happening."
Kinda maybe, but it's not like Mexico had stable, transparent and effective government prior to widespread U.S. drug prohibition either. It's not like Porfirio Diaz needed the Zetas to murder civilians. Mexico has been weighed down by corrupt, violent politics since the fucking Aztecs. The investigative reporters there are fucking heroes.
posted by klangklangston at 6:56 PM on August 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Kinda maybe, but it's not like Mexico had stable, transparent and effective government prior to widespread U.S. drug prohibition either. It's not like Porfirio Diaz needed the Zetas to murder civilians. Mexico has been weighed down by corrupt, violent politics since the fucking Aztecs. The investigative reporters there are fucking heroes.
posted by klangklangston at 6:56 PM on August 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Terrifying. Between this and the Iguala student massacre it's starting to look like the government of Mexico has been completely infiltrated by those the narcos have bought. What can be done to roll this back?
posted by Existential Dread at 8:18 PM on August 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Existential Dread at 8:18 PM on August 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Kade from Privacysos has a good piece on these killings and what they mean for Mexico and the rest of us. (Did you know Mexico is the biggest state client of the Hacking Team malware merchants?)
posted by grobstein at 7:59 AM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by grobstein at 7:59 AM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Really, the only way to report news in Mexico is to do it anonymously.
posted by dhruva at 11:53 AM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by dhruva at 11:53 AM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Not even that. There was a female journalist who worked mostly through twitter who ended up being exposed when one of her real life friends had his phone hacked. She was murdered too.
posted by klangklangston at 3:06 PM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by klangklangston at 3:06 PM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
-Cartel Land
-Mexico's president is facing the most damning charge yet — and his reputation is crumbling
posted by kliuless at 9:26 AM on August 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
-Mexico's president is facing the most damning charge yet — and his reputation is crumbling
posted by kliuless at 9:26 AM on August 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide -- unless the institutions of the state get taken over by narcos.
posted by grobstein at 10:46 AM on August 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by grobstein at 10:46 AM on August 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
« Older Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources | Dying for their Art Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by omegar at 3:56 PM on August 3, 2015