Photo credit: Yo Soy 132.

05/29/12 – On May 11, Enrique Peña Nieto, the presidential candidate from the Revolutionary Institutional Party (Partido Revolucionario Institutional, PRI) attended a forum at the Iberoamericana University (Universidad Iberoamericana, Ibero) in Mexico City. A large group of students gathered to rally against Peña Nieto and the anticipated return of his party in the upcoming July presidential elections. The PRI ruled Mexico for more than 70 years before being voted out in 2000 with the election of National Action Party (Partido de Acción Nacional, PAN) candidate Vicente Fox. Peña left the campus as students followed him shouting “Get out!” as shown in a YouTube video that quickly spread through social networks.

After this incident, however, important media outlets such as Televisa and the Mexican Editorial Organization (Organización Editorial Mexicana, OEM) diminished the incident and affirmed that the visit of Peña Nieto to Ibero was a success, as featured in headlines of OEM’s newspapers throughout the country that read, “Success for Peña at the Ibero in spite of planned boycott intent.” Those media outlets, along with members and supporters of the PRI, quickly undermined the dissenting students and their protests, claiming they were “porros” (a name attributed in Mexico to students that organize themselves in violent protest) and “agitators” planted by political rivals, specifically by leftist presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Later, the PRI released a promotional video using footage from his time at Ibero that made Peña Nieto’s visit seem positive.

Photo credit: Yo Soy 132

This attempt to undermine the protests and cover up the students’ dissatisfaction backfired after information surfaced about what really happened on the campus. A group of 131 Ibero students responded to the biased coverage of the event by creating a video that they uploaded to YouTube, in which they recognize their participation in the protest and openly reveal their identities while showing their Ibero ID’s, demonstrating they are students at Ibero and not “porros” or “agitators” as their critics claimed. This cyber response quickly became popular and spread under the slogan #YoSoy132 (I am 132) with thousands of students from different universities, both public and private, showing their solidarity with the 131 students who initially stood up to the media, Peña Nieto, and the PRI.

#YoSoy132 quickly became a national movement with thousands of students from all over Mexico convening to march and demand a democratic and un-manipulated dissemination of information. The protests continued to grow in Mexico and across the globe as Mexicans living abroad united in protest, marched, and voiced their dissatisfaction with the situation via social networks, which has been the catalyst for the formation, organization, and dissemination of the movement’s purpose and intent.

Photo Credit: Yo Soy 132.

Some have started to refer to the #YoSoy132 movement as the “Mexican Spring,” drawing parallels with the Arab Spring that was born in the social networks, promoted by youth, and that led to the overthrow of various authoritarian regimes in North Africa. However, people inside the movement do not agree with the name because, as they argue, the movement is not a direct protest against the government, but rather one in favor of democratization and strengthened transparency of the media. They also have distanced themselves from a parallel anti-Peña movement, since the #YoSoy132 movement itself is not openly against any candidate, rather in favor of clean and un-manipulated elections. Organizers describe it as a nonpartisan, leaderless movement for real democracy. Despite their peaceful nature, observers have said that its repression could lead to a social revolution. Nevertheless, authorities have respected the movement and the peoples’ right to protest, and even Televisa has given coverage and air time to report on #YoSoy132.

Intellectuals, artists, actors, and public figures throughout Mexico have shown their solidarity with #YoSoy132 through their social networks accounts, joining the protests in person, or publicly featuring slogans in support, like the one seen on a red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in France, which took place in mid to late May. Messages like, “We are more than 131, I’m 132,” “Long live the students!” or “The true and great change in Mexico began in May 2012 with 131 brave students,” can be read throughout Facebook and Twitter. Even international movements like Occupy Wall Street have shown their support of the so-called “Mexican Spring.”

More information about the movement can be found at the #YoSoy132 website: http://yosoy132.mx/

Sources:

“Éxito de Peña en la Ibero pese a intento orquestado de boicot.” El Sol de Morelia. May 12, 2012.”

 ”#YoSoy132, lema que une a estudiantes en defensa de la ‘pluralidad’.” CNN México. May 22, 2012.

 ”Llega a Cannes eco del ‘Yo soy 132′.” La Jornada. May 24, 2012.

 ”#TodosSomos132: Solidarity With the Mexican Spring.” Occupy Wall Street. May 25, 2012.

“México: cosecha más apoyos el movimiento ‘Yo soy 132′.” Diario Jornada. May 27, 2012.

 ”Student Movement Dubbed the ‘Mexican Spring’.” The Nation. May 29, 2012.

 ”Yo soy 132: somos apartidistas pero no apolíticos.” La Jornada Veracruz. May 29, 2012.

The forum was hosted at INEGI’s headquarters in the state of Aguascalientes, located in central Mexico. The conference included presentations by researchers and statisticians from 30 countries, including Australia, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, and the United States among others. The conference was convened for participants to share methodologies and analysis related to crime and criminal justice statistics. Those in attendance had the opportunity to learn about experiences and concrete methodologies from researchers and heads of statistical institutes from different parts of the world.

Eduardo Sojo, the president of INEGI, said that there was a demand for new statistical information needed in a variety of areas, and thus the Excellence Center for Statistic Information on Government, Victimization, Public Security and Justice (Centro de Excelencia para Información Estadística de Gobierno, Victimización, Seguridad Pública y Justicia)–one of the organizations that collaborated in putting the conference together–was created. Antonio Mazzitelli, representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said the Centre of Excellence in Mexico has thus far become an international reference, and in the near future will be able to provide technical assistance to other countries.

Trans-Border Institute Director David Shirk and Justice in Mexico Coordinator Octavio Rodriguez attended the forum to present results from the Justice in Mexico Project’s recent reports on drug violence in Mexico and police in Ciudad Juárez, which were sponsored by the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Open Society Initiative, respectively.

TBI’s presentation, along with the other participants’ work, will be available soon at the Excellence Center’s website: http://www.cdeunodc.inegi.org.mx/

To learn more about last week’s conference, you can go to:

http://www.inegi.org.mx/eventos/2011/unodc_evento/presentacion.aspx

http://www.cdeunodc.inegi.org.mx/

Sources:

“Inicia conferencia sobre estadísticas de gobierno y seguridad pública.” La Crónica de Hoy. May 22, 2012.

“Inició 1ra Conferencia Internacional de Estadísticas de Gobierno, Seguridad Pública, Victimización.” Aguas Digital. May 22, 2012.

“En la estadística del delito es necesario contar con datos duros que incorporen la realidad social.” El Sol del Centro. May 25, 2012.

The report included a section titled “Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life,” citing several persons killed over 2011, including Joaquín Figueroa Vásquez, murdered on June 17 by a bullet to the head during a high-speed chase involving state and federal security forces. His family claimed that his body showed signs of torture, and that the wound he sustained pointed to an execution-style killing. The report also provided an update on proceedings against security personnel accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings. In October, a military court sentenced two officers and 12 soldiers to prison sentences ranging from 16 to 40 years for the killings of three individuals at a military checkpoint in La Jolla, Sinaloa in July 2007. It reported that there were no developments in two high-profile cases from 2010 – one involving two Tec Monterrey students killed by soldiers in March 2010, and another involving a June 2010 finding by Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, CNDH) that Army personnel altered the scene where Martin and Bryan Almanza Salazar, ages five and nine, were shot to death in April the same year, in order to claim that they had been killed in the crossfire during a gun battle with cartel members, which they boys’ parents vehemently denied.

The report also indicated “multiple reports” of forced disappearance by members of the military and police. In March, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances found a lack of will on the part of authorities to investigate reports of forced disappearances, and indicated that the number of such reports made to its organization had tripled since 2010. In terms of kidnappings, the report cited government figures indicating a 6% increase in kidnappings in the first half of 2011 as compared with 2010. It also noted the widespread practice of families dealing directly with kidnappers or through private third parties instead of going to the authorities, often fearing police involvement in the kidnappings. Arbitrary arrests and detentions are also of concern, with the CNDH fielding 1,744 complaints of such treatment during 2011.

As with previous years, the report drew attention to the damning conditions that detainees encounter, including torture and “other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment,” citing 1,626 complaints received by the CNDH of such treatment, as well as 42 complaints of torture, compared with 1,170 and 10, respectively in 2010. The report also expressed concern that confessions obtained through torture and degrading treatment were being admitted in courts, despite the inadmissibility of such confessions according to Mexican law. Moreover, the report cited overall poor conditions at prisons and detention centers due to endemic corruption, overcrowding, alcoholism, drug addiction, and prisoner abuse, as well as insufficient or nonexistent medical and psychiatric care.

The State Department report expressed concern that despite a constitutional mandate for an independent judiciary, “court decisions were susceptible to improper influence by both private and public entities, particularly at the state and local level,” citing the Center of Economic and Educational Investigation (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, CIDE). Of particular concern is the continued failure to ensure that alleged abuses against civilians carried out by military personnel are handled by civilian courts and not under military jurisdiction, despite a July 2011 ruling by Mexico’s Supreme Court that said that such cases should be guided by international conventions to which Mexico has signed.

Freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly and association were also worrisome areas for the report’s authors. The report pointed to continued attacks against media outlets and journalists, and resulting self-censorship. It referenced the acts of police repression against approximately 500 students from the Teachers’ College of Ayotzinapa in Guerrero demonstrating against conditions at the school in December of last year, which resulted in the deaths of two student protestors. The report also made note of other societal problems linked to human rights abuses, such as femicides, domestic violence, human trafficking, child labor, and social and economic discrimination against indigenous populations.

The report from the U.S. State Department has potential ramifications for continued cooperation between the two countries in the fight against international drug trafficking organizations. Michael Posner, assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, said that the administration of President Barack Obama is reviewing the human rights situation in Mexico in order to reevaluate its continued commitment to the Mérida Initiative, the multi-billion dollar aid package to bolster rule of law and the justice system in Mexico.

The full report can be found at http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm#wrapper.

Sources:

“El Ejército y Marina, involucrados en violaciones a derechos humanos: EU.” La Crónica de Hoy. May 25, 2012.

“Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011.” U.S. Department of State: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Accessed May 26, 2012.

Sergio Villareal Barragán, “El Grande,” was extradited to the United States on May 22 to face charges in a Texas court of drug trafficking and money laundering. Photo: Associated Press

05/25/12 – Sergio Villarreal Barragán, known as “El Grande” because he stands over six and a half feet tall, was extradited to the United States on Tuesday May 22. Villarreal Barragán was an alleged former leader and lieutenant of the Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO) from 2007 to 2010 where he was heavily involved in the drug trade, specifically cocaine, and handling the cartel’s finances. The United States requested his extradition to a Texas court where he will face charges of drug trafficking and money laundering. According to the U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman, El Grande allegedly confiscated upwards of $100 million (USD). He appeared before a court on May 23 and, while in the custody of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), now awaits his next court date.

Perhaps equally as important as the extradition was significant to the cooperation between the U.S. and Mexican governments is the report from multiple sources that El Grande was responsible for naming the four Mexican military officials that were apprehended earlier this week on suspicion of colluding with the Beltrán Levya Organization in the past. Of the four arrested, one was the former undersecretary of National Defense (subsecretario de la Defensa Nacional) and one other was still active in the service at the time of his arrest while the other three had retired within the past decade. (Read more about the officials here). While the investigations into the officials are still ongoing, El Grande’s role in naming names and exposing the connections could be significant. Additionally, as Proceso reported, El Grande cooperated with the Federal Attorney General’s Office in Mexico (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR), and very well may do the same in the United States, perhaps becoming a protected witness for the DEA.

Before joining the Beltrán Leyva Organization, Villarreal Barragán served as a policeman in the Coahuila Judicial Police force and then became a member of the Federal Police (Policía Federal). After becoming involved in organized crime in 2007, he quickly rose through the ranks among the Beltrán Leyva Organization. In 2009, the leader of the cartel, Arturo Beltrán Leyva, was killed in a shootout by members of the Mexican Navy, which severely divided the cartel as various factions arose to battle for the vacancy. El Grande took part in the infighting at the time, but was captured not a year later in the state of Puebla, also by the Navy. At the time of his arrest in September 2010, the Mexican government had a reward out for the cartel leader of 30-million pesos.

Sources:

Dávila, Patricia. “Imputan cuatro cargos a ‘El Grande’ en Estados Unidos.” Proceso. May 23, 2012.

“Mexico extradites ‘drug kingpin’ Sergio Villarreal.” BBC News. May 23, 2012.

Torres, Rubén. “Presentan a Sergio Villarreal ante la corte texana.” El Economista. May 23, 2012.

Journalist Marcio Antonio Ávila García (left) was kidnapped from the car wash (right) in Ciudad Obregón on May 17. His body was found on May 18. Photo: El Diario de Sonora

05/22/12 – On Friday, May 18, journalist Marco Antonio Ávila García became the sixth member of the media killed in the past month in Mexico, a staggeringly high number in such a short period of time. Ávila García’s body was found in a plastic bag just outside the city of Empalme, Sonora, a day after witnesses reported he was kidnapped by three masked gunmen at a car wash in Ciudad Obregón. Authorities said that a message from the perpetrators accompanied the body, though they did not say what the text read. Ávila García (39) was a reporter at newspaper outlets El Regional de Sonora and Diario Sonora de la Tarde, where he specifically covered organized crime and police beats. He was married with three young children.

While authorities investigate the murder, media networks and colleagues of the slain journalist have protested his death and demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice. Since Friday’s discovery, members of the Sonoran Group of Journalists (Foro Sonorense de Periodistas) have worn black ribbons or ties in his honor and as a sign of mourning for their friend and co-worker. “It’s black for the pain of losing a colleague, but also because it’s the color that represents the stain or shadow cast on our ability to fulfill our work as journalists,” explained the group. Others continue to call attention to the very high levels of impunity that criminals face in Mexico, and demand that authorities not allow yet another case to slip away unpunished.

Ávila García’s death makes him the seventh journalist killed in Mexico in 2012 alone. The country is known to be one of the most dangerous places in the world for members of the media to work, and despite some governmental efforts to better protect journalists, such as the approved amendment in March that made crimes against media a federal offense, the numbers continue to increase. Consequently, some news outlets turn to self-censorship to avoid being targets of future violence, like how El Mañana in Tamaulipas recently announced that it would no longer publish stories on organized crime after its offices were hit with grenades and bullets on May 11. To read more about the recent string of violence against journalists in Mexico, click here.

Sources:

Camacho, Fernando. “Encuentran cadáver de un reportero plagiado ayer en Sonora.” La Jornada. May 18, 2012.

Associated Press. “Kidnapped reporter found dead in Mexico.” The Guardian. May 19, 2012.

Notimex. “Periodistas de Hermosillo protestan con moños negros.” El Universal. May 22, 2012.

Defendant David Valencia, seen here, and José Beritán were found guilty of first degree murder in a San Diego court on May 16 for their involvement in the killing of two victims and dissolving of their bodies in acid. Photo: Union Tribune

05/22/12 – Two members of the San Diego-based drug gang known as Los Palillos, or the Toothpicks, were convicted last week for crimes of kidnapping and first degree murder. The defendants, José Olivera Beritán (38) and David Valencia (42), were found guilty of killing two people in San Diego County in 2007, allegedly kidnapping and strangling the victims to death before dissolving their bodies in barrels of acid. Beritán was additionally found guilty of first degree murder in a third victim’s death around the same time.

The remains of the bodies dissolved in acid, which were not found until 2009–two years after their mutilation, were discovered on a ranch in San Ysidro owned by Valencia. The investigation that led authorities to his property began after authorities received information from a former kidnapped victim who was held captive by Beritán and Valencia in 2007. The two were arrested along when the kidnapped individual was rescued from a home in Chula Vista, and they have been awaiting their trial in the Superior Court of San Diego since, as the prosecution took five years to build the case. The hearing, which lasted three months, was a drawn out process with prosecutors calling over 80 witnesses and presenting 700 pieces of evidence, reported the Union Tribune. Throughout the trial, the defense claimed that the evidence being presented was inadmissible given that it allegedly came from two people formerly connected with the drug gang in which Beritán and Valencia were members. Additionally, the defense attorney argued that the two informants were being cut bargains for their information and cooperation with authorities. Regardless, the case moved forward and concluded in mid-May, at which point the jury took a week to deliberate before settling on the verdict. After the May 16 ruling, the defendants must now wait for their sentencing on July 19, which will most likely be life in prison.

Beritán and Valencia both belong to the street gang Los Palillos, a group that broke away from the Arellano-Félix Organization (AFO) back in 2002 after AFO leader Ramón Arellano Félix was killed in Mexico during a shootout with Federal Police (Policía Federal). AFO had long-dominated the Baja California plaza, and specifically that of Tijuana, which is a sister-city to San Diego on the U.S. side. With Ramón’s death and the subsequent internal fracturing of the cartel, Los Palillos moved across the border to San Diego. Since 2003, the street gang has allegedly been involved in 17 cartel-style killings, which are trade-marked by their gruesome nature (i.e. dissolving in acid, beheadings, torturing), for which nine Los Palillos members are in custody, Beritán and Valencia being two of them.

Given the Los Palillos’ presence in San Diego and the oft-perceived notion of ‘spill-over violence’ affecting border cities, “Deputy District Attorney James Fontane applauded the jury and said the verdicts send a strong message that San Diego County will not tolerate the ‘brutality that we’re seeing just south of the border,” reported the Associated Press. “Today,” he continued, “justice was served.”

Sources:

Moran, Greg. “Informants are lying, say Los Palillos attorneys.” Union Tribune San Diego. February 23, 2012.

Littlefield, Dana. “Two men tied to kidnapping and murder crew convicted.” Union Tribune San Diego. May 16, 2012.

Watson, Julie. “San Diego jury convicts 2 in cartel-linked murders.” Associated Press. May 16, 2012.

Martínez, Aldo. “Ex Rivales del “CAF”, Culpables.” El Mexicano. May 19, 2012.

Of the four, two are currently being in arraigo, a form of preventative detention that authorities use to hold suspects while gathering more evidence in the case. Retired General Tomás Ángeles Dauahare, who served as the previous assistant defense secretary from 2006 to 2008, and General Roberto Dawe González, stationed in Colima at the time of his detention, were both arrested on Tuesday, May 15 and placed under surveillance of the PGR. The arraigo, which was granted by the Federal Penal Judge for Searches, Arraigos, and Communication Interceptions, will last no more than 40 days. According to the PGR, the information used to serve Ángeles Dauahare and Dawe González with their detentions came from a case opened in March of this year against the two generals that was based on “the testimony of several people on trial, including some soldiers.” The investigation may have began much earlier, however, as reports have noted that the PGR’s case identification number (PGR/SIEDO/UEIDCS/112/2010) seems to indicate it was opened in 2010. The Washington Post noted that Ángeles Dauahare is now the “highest ranking military official to be linked to drug traffickers during the current [presidential] administration,”

Two days following Ángeles Dauahare’s and Dawe González’s arrests, the Mexican Army detained retired General Ricardo Escorcia, though it is not yet clear if he is being investigated for the same charges as the other generals. However, as stated by the Associated Press, the National Ministry of Defense (Secretaría Nacional de Defensa, Sedena) “did note that the detention order for Escorcia’s was issued ‘simultaneously with the two previous detentions, with the aim of having him testify in the investigations’ being carried out by civilian prosecutors.” Escorcia directed a military base in Cuernavaca–the capital of Morelos thought to be controlled by the Beltrán Leyva Organization–up until his retirement in 2010.

On May 19, retired Coronel Silvio Isidro de Jesús Hernández Soto became the fourth official arrested this week with possible connections to the Beltrán Leyva Organization. Hernández Soto, who retired in 2002 from the service, is being held by the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime (Subprocuraduría de Investigación Especializada en Delincuencia Organizada, SIEDO) while the investigations continue.

Mexico is notorious for its high levels of corruption among authorities. Just in February, the PGR announced that an investigation led to the discovery that a military general was on the payroll for the Zetas organization. Even worse, Mexican drug czar General Jesús Gutierrez Rebollo was arrested in 1997 for connections to drug kingpin Amado Carrillo Fuentes, which was a serious step back for anti-narcotics efforts in Mexico to have the top drug enforcement officer colluding with cartel leaders.

Sources:

Associated Press. “2 detained Mexican army generals probed for links to Beltran Leyva drug cartel.” Washington Post. May 17, 2012.

Castillo García, Gustavo. “Obtiene PGR arraigo de 40 días contra Tomás Ángeles y Roberto Dawe.” La Jornada. May 17, 2012.

Castillo, E. Eduardo. “3^rd Mexico army general probed for cartel ties.” Associated Press. May 18, 2012.

Castillo García, Gustavo. “Tenienete coronel retirado Silvio Hernández Soto, el cuarto militar detenido.” La Jornada. May 19, 2012.

The Villareal brothers exit the courtroom after receiving their sentence on May 16. Photo: EFE

05/20/12 – Despite pressure from the Mexican National Commission of Human Rights (Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos, CNDH) to call attention to and stop the sentencing of Mexicans abroad to the death penalty, the Villarreal case in Malaysia is ending in capital punishment for the three Mexican brothers. Luis Alfonso (47), José Regino (36), and Simón González Villareal (33) were all sentenced on May 16 to death by hanging for their involvement in drug trafficking, a decision handed down by the High Court of Kuala Lumpur, a justice tribunal in Malaysia. According to El Universal, presiding Judge Mohamed Zawawi announced the verdict. Two other suspects–Lee Boon Siah of Malaysia and Lim Hung Wah of Singapore–were also found guilty along with the Villareal brothers, all of whom were arrested in 2008 for allegedly being involved in trafficking methamphetamine.

Judge Zawawi explained that he based his decision largely on the fact that the suspects had traces of methamphetamine found on their clothes, a drug that authorities discovered at the scene where the defendants were arrested on March 4, 2008. Malaysian police found large quantities of various materials used to make methamphetamine, as well as 29 kilos of the drug itself at an industrial plant in the port city of Johor Bahru. Judge Zawawi, whose nickname is “Judge Rope” (“juez soga”) for the number of death penalty sentences he has ordered in his career, admitted that the prosecutors never actually proved that the brothers made any of the meth. However, he said that because they had traces of the drug on them, plus “their presence in Malaysia and specifically at the site in which the drugs were found, [this] was sufficient enough evidence to convict them.”

According to reports, the brothers were shocked at the verdict. Although the only punishment for drug trafficking in Malaysia is the death penalty, the defendants said they were sure they would be found innocent, so sure that they even brought their personal belongings in plastic bags with them to the court expecting to be released. Even the brothers’ lawyer, Kitson Foong, was optimistic enough that they would be cleared of charges that he advised his clients to bring their passports with them. Foong allegedly told a representative from the Mexican embassy present at the May 16 hearing, “If we win, we have to remove them as quickly as we can from the country before the prosecutors have a chance to appeal.” Given the ruling, however, Foong will now fight the decision, sending an appeal to the Appellate Court and eventually the Federal Court of Malaysia. Foong reiterated his arguments that he had made throughout the case as support in favor of the Villareal brothers’ release, noting specifically that not only did police tamper with evidence found at the scene when the defendants were arrested, but also that the evidence used to convict the brothers was insufficient.

Judge Zawawi’s ruling makes the Sinaloa-born Villareal brothers the first Mexicans ever sentenced to death in Asia. The decision adds to the more than 900 other death sentence rulings that have been handed out in Malaysia, the majority for drug trafficking, reported Milenio. After the sentencing, as Luis, José, and Simón were walked out of the courtroom en route to their new holding cells in the Sungai Buloh prison, a security guard yelled out in support of the brothers, “Tell them in Mexico that we will fight, we will appeal!”

Last month, the National Commission for Human Rights in Mexico called on the Mexican government to intensify its efforts to stop Mexicans from facing the death penalty abroad. (Read more about CNDH’s efforts here). According to CNDH, the death penalty “is the most grave sanction a person can face due to that fact that it is irreversible by nature and is a method that does not guarantee justice.” The organization even specifically named the Villareal case, which at that point was pending a decision, as an example of the injustice Mexicans living abroad face. Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2005.

Sources:

Gómora, Doris. “CNDH pide intensificar acciones para evitar pena de muerte.” El Universal. April 5, 2012.

“Urge CNDH a intensificar acciones contra pena de muerte a mexicanos.” La Crónica de Hoy. April 5, 2012.

EFE. “Condenan a tres mexicanos a la horca en Malasia.” El Universal. May 16, 2012.

Hugo Michel, Víctor. “Culpables: ‘se les condena a la horca hasta que mueran.’” Milenio. May 17, 2012.

The body of Orta Salgado was found in his car, pictured here, along with campaign materials for PRI presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto on Sunday. Photo: Jorge Medina, El Universal.

05/17/12 – Adding to what seems to be a quickly growing number of journalists killed in Mexico, journalist René Orta Salgado was found dead inside his car in Morelos on Sunday, May 13. The body showed signs of having been beaten, most notably with blows to the abdomen, core, and head, and with markings of asphyxiation, reported El Universal. Authorities noted that no firearms appeared to be used in the killing, nor was blood drawn, thus distinguishing this murder from most others. “How this homicide was conducted is not common,” said the Attorney General’s Office of Morelos (Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado, PGJE). “It’s the only case that we have with these characteristics.”

Family and friends alerted police on Saturday that Orta Salgado was missing; he was last seen early Saturday morning at a bar in Cuernavaca, the capital of Morelos. Authorities believe he had been dead for up to 24 to 36 hours when they discovered the body on Sunday afternoon. The PGJE has been in communication with the federal Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) to ensure collaboration with the PGR’s Office on Attention to Crimes against Freedom of Expression (Fiscalía Especializada en la Atención de Delitos contra la Libertad de Expresión) throughout the investigation. State officials also offered support in the aftermath of Sunday’s discovery. Said Morelos Governor Marco Adame through a public communication, “The State Government laments the death of reporter René Orta Salgado, and reiterates its promise to legality and justice,” a sentiment that Morelos Secretary of Government Sergio Hernández Benítez echoed.

Orta Salgado had been a reporter for news agency El Sol de Cuernavaca for 20 years. However, he had not been actively writing since December, at which point he joined a political campaign organization to support presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI) in the upcoming July elections. Reports have referenced various names of the organization Orta Salgado joined, including Entrepreneurs for the Nation (Emprendedores por la Nación, EPN) and Young Entrepreneurs for Morelos (Jóvenes Emprendedores por Morelos). Regardless, officials found campaign material for Peña Nieto in the car along with the journalist’s body, though the motive for the murder–whether political, professional, or other–remains unclear at this point.

Orta Salgado’s death is the most recent in a string of violence against journalists that has erupted over the past three weeks in Mexico. On April 28, Proceso journalist Regina Martínez was killed inside her house in Xalapa, Veracruz. Five days later, on May 3, the mutilated bodies of three photojournalists–Guillermo Luna Varela, Gabriel Huge, and Esteban Rodríguez–were found inside plastic bags in a canal in Boca del Rio, Veracruz. On May 10, the editor of an on-line news website in Hermasillo, Sonora, Gerardo Ponce de León, was beaten by two men, though he survived the attack. The following day, the offices of the Nuevo Laredo-based newspaper El Mañana was hit with a grenade and open fired upon, although no one was injured in the act. Orta Salgado’s murder in Morelos took place the day after on Saturday, May 12.

Sources:

Redacción. “Asesinan a otro periodista, ahora en Morelos.” Proceso. May 13, 2012.

EFE. “Mexico Journalist Found Dead in Car Trunk.” Fox News Latino. May 14, 2012.

Miranda, Justino. “Periodista René Orta, asesinado con arma blanca: PGJ.” El Universal. May 14, 2012.

Photo: AFP

05/17/12 – The 49-person massacre in Nuevo León earlier this week seemed to be claimed by the Zetas, given the narco-banners left at the scene and graffiti tag that read “Z 100%” on a nearby wall. However, the Zetas have since tried to distance themselves from the killings by calling on the government to thoroughly investigate the crime before attributing the blame.

Two days after 49 decapitated and dismembered bodies were found in Cadereyta, Nuevo León, more narco-banners were found Tuesday hung from bridges in San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas, allegedly written by the Zetas. According to authorities, this time the messages indicated that the Zetas were not behind Sunday’s massacre, although the Zetas did claim responsibility for two massacres earlier this month–one in Tamaulipas where 14 bodies were found decapitated and 9 bodies hung from a bridge, and another in Guadalajara where 18 bodies were found packed inside a van.

An official from the Attorney General’s Office of San Luis Potosí (Procuraduría General de la Justicia del Estado, PGJE) who spoke of the new banners found Tuesday did not reveal the exact wording of the messages, only that the Zetas had denied responsibility for the recent killings and indicated that another rival group was behind the act. News reports have point out the possibility that the “Z 100%” graffiti found Sunday may have been tagged at the scene well before the bodies were dumped.

Authorities are still investigating the incident, however the recent mixed messages being sent, along with the severely mutilated state in which the bodies were found, complicate the matter as it makes it difficult to identify the victims and the perpetrators, thus delaying the investigation process.

Sources:

“Cartel de los Zetas niega estar destras de matanza en Mexico.” El Universal. May 15, 2012.

Redacción. “Se deslindan Zetas de masacre en NL.” Reforma. May 15, 2012.

“Zetas cartel ‘denies’ role in Mexico massacre.” Al Jazeera. May 16, 2012.