AFP: Activists under fire in Mexico

  Jan 22 2012 – Over the last few months at least three activists have been murdered in Mexico, and a fourth survived a serious attack. In the context of Mexico’s ongoing drug-related violence, some are being targeted for daring to campaign against criminals, others for challenging the actions of corrupt officials and state forces.

Time: Evidence of Killings and Disappearances by Mexico’s Security Forces

November 11 2011 – The grieving families of six men who disappeared from a Mexican night club speak to TIME. Their story is among 170 cases of killing, torture and disappearances documented in a new Human Rights Watch report. This report was produced for Time Magazine by Deborah Bonello. Watch the video on Time’s website [...]

Univision: Javier Sicilia and the politics of grief

October 18 2011 – A short video documentary by me for Univision on peace activist and poet Javier Sicilia and his potential to create real change here in Mexico. Watch the video here on Univision’s Tumbler.

Training journalists in defence techniques: Article 19

You may remember this story I did a few months ago on survival techniques for journalists. I also produced a video on that course for the non-profit that runs it, Article 19, which you can see here as well as on their website.

AFP: Poet peace activist confronts Mexico’s Calderon

Mexican poet turned peace activist Javier Sicilia meets President Felipe Calderon, who he has much criticized for the strong-arm military tactics against drug cartels that many blame for unleashing widespread violence. This video was produced for AFP. You can also see it here on AFP’s YouTube channel.

AFP: Cross-border protest asks US to stop funding Mexico’s drug war

    Mexico’s march for peace, led by Catholic poet Javier Sicilia, crossed over from Ciudad Juarez – the violent epicenter of the country’s drug war – into El Paso, Texas Saturday. They were joined by hundreds of Americans in their demands for a change in strategy from both the Mexican and US governments. This [...]

AFP: Javier Sicilia and peace march welcomed warmly in Ciudad Juarez

Just to give you a taste of last night: Friday 10th 2011 – Mexican poet Javier Sicilia and his caravan of peace protestors received a warm welcome from thousands of people in Ciudad Juarez when they arrived Thursday evening. It was the final stop on a tour of some of the country’s states worst affected [...]

AFP: Mexico peace protesters head to US border

June 6th – Mexicans protesting a military crackdown on drug cartels launched a convoy protest Saturday that will travel through some of Mexico’s bloodiest towns on its way to the US border. This dispatch was done for AFP. You can see it here on their YouTube channel.

MRTV: Thousands of Mexicans march against drug violence, demand justice for dead

    May 8th 2011 – Thousands of protesters marched to Mexico City’s Zocalo Sunday demanding an end to the violence generated by President Felipe Calderon’s ‘war’ against drug cartels. See the video for more.

Some images from today’s ‘March for Peace’ in Mexico

Some images from today’s ‘March for Peace’ in Mexico City protesting President Felipe Calderon’s ‘war’ again Mexico’s drug cartels and organized crime networks

Mexican journalists get survival tips for covering drug violence

Raymundo Arellano wears a pair of dog tags around his neck. His name, blood type and next of kin have been indented on the silver plates.

“My greatest fear is that I’ll be killed and they’ll bury me somewhere and no one will recognize my remains,” he says.

MRTV: Mexican public opinion turns against Calderon’s ‘drug war’

No Mas Sangre (No More Blood), a social protest group that began life as a cartoon, took to the streets of Mexico City on a recent weekend. They were in protesting what they see as a failed policy – President Felipe Calderon’s campaign against the country’s drug cartels and organized crime. But how representative are they of the Mexican people?

MRTV – Butterflies, Narcos and Broadcasters

February 25th 2011 – Mexico’s migrant monarch butterflies in the state of Michoacan see less visitors as tourists are put off by press reports of narco violence. After being fired for asking Mexico President Felipe Calderon to respond to rumors that he has an alcohol problem, outspoken broadcaster and journalist Carmen Aristegui returned to the airwaves. And drug-related violence for the first time claimed the life of a US security agent – we ask what it means for US/Mexico relations.

Central American Migrants in Mexico Fill The Frame

Marc had Gael Garcia Bernal on board as his presenter, and has produced some excellent advocacy work. “Los Invisibles” (the invisibles) series is beautifully produced and shot, giving voice to a community rarely asked it’s opinion.

Death in El Salvador

The killing of documentary maker Christian Poveda represents a sad loss for a region much in need of greater understanding.

Human rights hit the big screen in second film festival

Mexico’s second annual human rights film festival, supported by a number of organizations here including the Mexico branch of Amnesty International, the Ambulante documentary film project and Mexico City’s Human Rights Commission, opens at the end of the week.

Mexican image of Brazil wins World Press Photo prize

Mexican photographer Carlos Cazalis was one of the winners in this year’s World Press Photo contest. The photographer was given first prize in the Contemporary Issues section for this image he took in São Paulo, Brazil, last year. The photo shows a man sleeping, wrapped in a blanket against the cold, outside São Paulo’s elite [...]

Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma spotlights Mexico

The Dart Center, a Colombia University project for journalists who cover violence, got in touch with me after I published a video report on survival training for journalists in Mexico earlier this year.

“Tracing Aleida” director on making the film and Mexico’s “dirty war”

This is a longer version of an edited interview with the director Christiane Burkhard about her documentary film project, “Tracing Aleida”.

Journalists reporting, and surviving, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico

The Committee for the Protection of Journalists reports on journalists working in the northern border town of Ciudad Juarez.

Nearly 10,000 migrant kidnappings in Mexico in 6 months

During that period, 9,758 migrants were deprived of their liberty. More than 60 percent of kidnappings involved groups of migrants travelling together. The majority of those kidnapped were from Honduras (67 %). ¡8% oer the victims were from El Salvador and 13% from Guatemala.

Training Day

May 30 2009 – My breath is tearing out of my lungs and my leg muscles are screaming for a reprieve. I just scaled a 60-degree hill coated in thorny brambles and poisonous plants whilst being pounded by rain. In the dark. I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but it did. Later that night, my fellow journalists and I were kidnapped by masked guerillas who jumped onto our bus.

Mexican journalists put through their survival paces

May 29 2009 – A couple of non-profits got together and ran a course just outside Mexico City this month for 18 journalists living and working here.

Obama starts a new era in Mexico drive-by

I didn’t think I was going to be able to make it into work this morning. Not because of Mexico’s overloaded public transport system, but because U.S President Barack Obama was expected to arrive on his first visit to Mexico here in the country’s capital.

Jesus as a migrant in pro-immigration street theater

The performance wasn’t part of Mexico’s traditional Semana Santa but had a cross-border purpose.

Eufrosina Cruz: Indigenous women’s rights vs. culture in Mexico

Cruz is a 28-year-old indigenous woman from the state of Oaxaca who is an activist for the rights of indigenous women. Cruz rebelled against the restrictions of her own community to become a college-educated accountant.

Peter Gabriel asks for end impunity over Ciudad Juarez’s dead women

Peter Gabriel implored President Calderon to show “real political will, muscle and budget” in investigating the hundreds of unsolved murders of young women in Ciudad Juarez.

Photojournalism show explains 2008 in Mexico

Mexico City’s Museo de la Ciudad is playing host to a photojournalism exhibition — Expofotoperiodismo — that features nearly 50 photos from 2008.

Mexico’s media under scrutiny in documentary

Violence against journalists in Mexico is nothing new but “Voces Silenciadas” broadens the debate around the persecution of journalists to encompass the bigger issues of media ownership and the relationship between the media and Mexico’s political powers.

Mexico’s special prosecutor for crimes against journalists ineffective, reports nonprofit

Freedom of expression advocates in Mexico have issued yet another missive in support of the country’s long-suffering journalistic community.

Violence against journalists continues in Latin America

We keep our eye on the frequent press-freedom reports that come out, given the high levels of violence against journalists in Mexico. Tuesday’s release by the Committee to Protect Journalists, sadly, held no surprises.

Carmen Aristegui talks about the reality for journalists in Mexico

February 6 2009 – Carmen Aristegui, one of Mexico’s most prominent journalists, disappeared from the Mexican radio airwaves last year in a cloud of controversy.

As Reed Johnson reported in January 2008, “Aristegui’s departure from W Radio set off a flurry of op-ed commentary in Mexico City newspapers. Several commentators have denounced the incident as an act of censorship and harassment by media and governmental interests.”

Now Aristegui’s back with a new radio news show –- this time on a different network. The journalist, who continued to host her nightly television news show on CNN Español during her radio hiatus, returns to the Mexican airwaves from 6 – 10 every weekday morning on MVS Radio.

Carmen Aristegui habla sobre la realidad en México para los periodistas

Febrero 6 2009 – Para ver la entrevista completa (40 minutos), haz click aquí.

Mexico’s missing children inspire artist

Lieberman spent more than three years working on 100 drawings that are intricate copies of often bad-quality newspaper photographs of missing children, taken from the Mexican newspaper Metro.

Video: Youth protest against bullfighting in Mexico City

Young animal rights activists took to the streets in central Mexico City on Sunday in protest against the hundreds of bullfights that take place here in Mexico.

Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna launch 4th Ambulante documentary festival in Mexico

Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, two of Mexico’s most bankable movie stars, launched the fourth annual Ambulante documentary film festival Friday morning in a packed cinema screening room on Mexico City’s Paseo de la Reforma.

Lydia Cacho publishes manual for parents on detecting child abuse

Lydia Cacho’s celebrity was apparent from the get-go last Thursday night in the trendy Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City, where the journalist launched her new book “Not With My Child” (Con Mi Hij@ No).

Central American migrants face more hurdles

A group of Honduran men and women came to Mexico looking for their missing loved ones earlier this year. They claim that there are nearly 600 Honduran migrants who are missing in Mexico who disappeared whilst crossing Mexico to get to the United States.

Death penalty advertisements in Mexico

You see some strong stuff on the streets of Mexico City ans this month was no different: an advertising campaign from Mexico’s Green Party demanding the return of the death penalty to the country.

Mexico hosts its first human rights film festival

Immigration, women’s rights, illegal detention and human trafficking are some of the themes that will be examined next week during Mexico’s first human rights film festival.