Widow of Mexican Journalist Demands Justice

Three years after Mexican journalist Javier Valdez Cardenas was shot dead outside the Culiacán offices of his news outlet, his widow has demanded justice.  

In an open letter, Griselda Triana called on authorities to arrest a suspected member of the Sinaloa drug cartel, currently detained in the U.S., who Mexico believes ordered the killing. 

Her letter was published Friday by several Mexican news outlets and the New York watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists, on the third anniversary of his killing. 

Investigative journalist Valdez was a co-founder of Riodoce, a Mexican weekly based in Sinaloa’s capital, Culiacán, that covered organized crime and corruption, and a columnist for the Mexico City daily La Jornada. 

The Mexican state of Sinaloa is home to the powerful Sinaloa cartel, led by drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. Guzmán is serving a life sentence in the U.S. after being convicted of several charges including murder conspiracy, drug trafficking and money laundering.  

Threatened several times

Valdez and Riodoce had been threatened on several occasions, and in 2009 a grenade was thrown into the office.  

In his book Periodismo escrito con sangre (Journalism Written in Blood) Valdez said of the attack, “This happened because we exercised our right to freedom of expression, because we did our job, because we’re passionate and believe in journalism,” according to an excerpt shared by UNESCO. 

Alongside his reporting on organized crime, which earned him and Riodoce awards including the Maria Moors Cabot Prize, Valdez wrote books about Mexico’s drug war.   

“Many victims lost their voices when he was killed because he would write about women who were searching for their missing children,” Triana wrote in the letter. “They got rid of him because someone did not like what he wrote.”  

In the months before his murder, Valdez had reported receiving anonymous death threats. He was killed shortly after leaving his office on May 15, 2017, by gunmen who blocked him, pulled him out of his car, and shot him several times, CPJ reported.

Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui delivers a speech at the University de Occidente during the commemoration of the murder of journalist Javier Valdez Cardenas in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico, on May 15, 2018.

 'Tremendous shock waves'

Valdez’s murder “sent tremendous shock waves through Mexican journalism,” CPJ’s Mexico representative Jan-Albert Hootsen told VOA. 

“Javier was not just one of the country’s foremost investigative reporters; he was also a uniquely talented writer with an extraordinary capacity for observation of the daily lives of those living in the shadow of violence, organized crime, corruption and abuse of power by authorities,” Hootsen said.  

“Mexico lost one of its most powerful voices, in what was a clear sign that no one, not even the best-known reporters in the country, are safe,” he said. 

Mexico is one of the deadliest countries in the world for journalists. At least 50 journalists have been killed in retaliation for their coverage in Mexico since 1992, according to CPJ data. Killers were brought to justice in only six of those cases. 

Mexico has protection mechanisms and agencies set up to investigate crimes against journalists and offer safety measures such as safe houses or bodyguards.  

Hootsen said these were “largely ineffective.” 

“Investigative journalism in Mexico has become an extremely risky line of work. Their job places them directly in the cross hairs of powerful actors willing to use extreme violence to silence any threat to their interests,” he said. 

Suspect sentenced to 14 years 

In Valdez’s case, authorities in February sentenced one man to 14 years in prison for his role in Valdez’s killing, and a second suspect is awaiting trial. Mexico is also seeking an extradition order for Dámaso López Serrano, who Mexico suspects ordered Valdez’s murder, Agence France-Presse reported.  

Serrano turned himself in to U.S. drug enforcement agents in July 2017.  

In her letter, Valdez’s widow, Triana, demanded assurances from Mexican authorities that Serrano would be brought to justice in Mexico. She added that the coronavirus pandemic had led to hearings being canceled.    

“We cannot pretend nothing else is happening and cannot hide other tragedies that tens of thousands of victims experience in this country and those who were violently taken from us for their journalistic work,” Triana said.  

“I do not have any doubt that Mexican journalism needs Javier’s pen more than ever.” 

from Voice of America - English https://ift.tt/2LwHz4n