Cartels and government authorities tried to silence the media in Ciudad Juárez with violence and threats. But journalists in the Mexican border town refused to give up and created a network to protect...
The drug-related violence in Ciudad Juárez in northern Mexico in the past 20 years has made the border town into one of Mexico's most dangerous places. Shootings, kidnappings, carjackings, and curfews...
Elena Poniatowska is one of Mexico's most famous authors and commentators. Here we reproduce a letter to PEN/Opp about the role PEN's campaigns actually play in today's Mexico.
Poet and literary critic Víctor Manuel Mendiola looks with dismay at what is happening in his home country of Mexico. In a very personal reflection, he recalls memories of times long past—the Mexico...
What actually happens to the people in a country under the yoke of violence? The image of Mexico as a violent country risks ultimately becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Jennifer Clement, poet...
74 journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2000. Not a single case has led to charges or sentences. Either because the crimes are being committed with approval from the powers that be or due to...
Puns and ambiguities are one of Luis Miguel Aguilar's trademarks. His poem entitled “Juárez” refers to both national hero Benito Juárez, 1806–1872, and the city of Juárez—the most dangerous place on...
Most of the times journalists are kidnapped in Mexico, it ends in murder. Raymundo Pérez Arellano got lucky—he survived. He tells PEN/Opp what happened and why he was kidnapped.
Héctor Gordoa was supposed to write about a murder that was posted as a clip on Youtube. He was about to face the same fate himself. He was released—if he promised to write what the drug mafia said...
Darío Ramírez, from ARTICLE 19, a freedom of expression organization, gives us up-to-date background information about the threats to journalists in Mexico—what does violence look like in the...
The reality in Mexico is scary—and the drug mafia wants people to be scared. As a journalist in Mexico, can you show people what's really happening—or do you serve the purposes of the criminal...
Text: Ioan Grillo
March 09 2013
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