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Renowned Mexican journalist Anabel Hernandez condemned the Mexican government for allowing the mass murders of reporters in an interview aired Tuesday with distinguished academic Tariq Ali.
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The journalist said government complicity was to blame for the spiraling number of murdered journalists, among them Javier Valdez, a prominent investigator of drug-related crimes who was shot 12 times in the northwest city of Culiacan.
“It is very clear, that to be able to kill one journalist as famous, as important as Javier Valdez, someone in the government gave permission to do it,” she told Ali.
Mexico is considered one of the deadliest countries in the world for journalists, with 125 reporters killed since 2000.
Hernandez explained, “These journalists have not just have been murdered by members of the cartels,” arguing that in most cases “members of the government, municipal government, state government or the federal government” are directly involved.
As the author of “Narcoland,” a book that explores the relationship between drug cartels and politicians in Mexico City, Hernandez has experienced this danger firsthand.
She continued, “It's not a problem if you are talking in general terms. But, if journalists like Javier or me, or others start to name names, I mean, it's not just governors, it's this particular governor. It's not just the police, it's this chief of the police … that is the point when the things get really dangerous.”
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“I put the name of chiefs of the police (in my book), and because of that these officials wanted to kill me, ordered my killing,” she added.
The investigative journalist also pointed a finger at the United States, claiming, “The CIA, the DEA have been involved managing the drug trafficking for decades, that is true.”
According to Hernandez, U.S. and international financial institutions are also complicit in the drug trade.
“Many of the American banks launder the money of these cartels. I mean that is a fact. That is a fact, but no one says anything, and that is very sad. That the journalists of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post are just focused on how bad Mexico is.”
“No one really wants to destroy the cartels because this illegal money, that costs blood in Mexico, is moving the economy in many parts of the world,” she added.
But despite the real and persistent threats against her life, Hernandez is committed to pursuing the truth.
“I still have to do my job,” she told Ali. “I cannot change that. I mean, this work is not about ego or fame or these silly things, this work is about the right of the people to know the truth.”
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