Author of Blog del Narco, chronicle of Mexico's drug war, flees

GlobalPost

The anonymous author of Blog del Narco, a chronicle of Mexico’s drug-related violence, has reportedly fled the country after receiving a telephone call telling her to run for her life.

The Guardian reported they had spoken to the woman, who said she was living in an undisclosed location in Spain. Her colleague had disappeared.

The woman, who spoke to the Guardian and Texas Observer last month in her first major media interview since launching the blog three years ago, told the newspaper this week she had received a phone call from her colleague on May 5 telling her to “run.”

"I'm trying to think positively but I'm scared something terrible has happened. 'Run' was our codeword for when something was very wrong. We had never used it before," she said.

“I called him back but there was no answer. I emailed him, tried Skype and WhatsApp, but nothing. Nothing."

Blog del Narco published graphic photos and stories of drug-related violence, including executions, shootouts and roadblocks, that other media outlets were often too scared to touch. 

It is not clear what will happen to the blog. The woman told the Guardian that her last post was on May 3 and she had no plans to start blogging again any time soon. She fears for the life of her colleague. 

Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the media, with more than 80 journalists murdered since 2005.

Violence against media outlets and their employees happens almost weekly across the country. Some newspapers have stopped reporting on crime to avoid attacks. 

In the past six years, more than 70,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence, while thousands more have disappeared.

Former President Felipe Calderon's controversial war against the powerful drug cartels resulted in a sharp escalation of violence and bloodshed.

Under the new administration of President Enrique Pena Nieto – who has vowed to curb violence rather than focusing on the drug cartels – violence by organized crime gangs has continued, with 4,249 people killed in the first four months of his administration.

The government claims that figure is down 14 percent from the same period a year ago, but critics say the figures are not accurate.


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