Mexico: Insults, Machismo, and Misogyny Target Anabel Hernández, X Account Suspended
Journalist says the attacks on her in the media and online are directed by President Obrador's administration following the publication of her investigative book
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Date: May 30, 2024
Women Press Freedom firmly supports Anabel Hernández, who says President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's administration is imposing censorship on her latest book, 'The Secret History: AMLO and the Sinaloa Cartel.' Due to the President's control over communication channels, Hernández has faced disqualification, insults, and misogyny directed towards her and her work. Furthermore, the journalist's X account was suspended just days after Hernández spoke out against the censorship. We strongly condemn any attempts to censor or suppress freedom of expression, particularly in a country like Mexico where journalists often face severe repercussions for their investigative reporting. We demand that President Obrador cease the attacks and that the journalist's X account be immediately reinstated.
On May 30, 2024, Anabel Hernández's X account was suspended for allegedly "violating community rules," days after she spoke out against the censorship of her book 'The Secret History: AMLO and the Sinaloa Cartel.’
“It is a virtual assassination when you are not allowed to say things, when you are not allowed to communicate, when, on one hand, you are deprived of any possibility to explain the investigation,” Mexican journalist Anabel Hernández says of the censorship she has been experiencing at the hands of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his administration on social media and in the press.
“The President has a monopoly on communication through his 'mañanera' conference, where on several occasions he has discredited me and my work. There are insults, machismo, and misogyny,” she continues.
The attacks follow the publication of Hernández’s latest book, "The Secret History: AMLO and the Sinaloa Cartel," in which she sheds light on key witnesses who have implicated President Obrador and former security official Genaro García Luna in connections to organized crime. It exposes the purported connections between the Sinaloa Cartel, a significant international organized crime group headquartered in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico, known for its involvement in illegal drug trafficking and money laundering, and López Obrador's political campaigns. Drawing from a wealth of testimonies and court documents from the United States, the journalist further sheds light on the perilous landscape for journalists in Mexico. She points to the alarming rate of journalist murders over the past decade and the increasing animosity towards the profession under the present administration.
Initially, Obrador had “praised” her for her investigations into Genaro García Luna, the former Secretary of Security during Felipe Calderón's presidency (2006-2012), now imprisoned in the United States for the revelations she published 14 years ago.
“But now that he is the one under investigation, he discredits journalism. No, power does not understand that journalists are not here to applaud it; we are here to investigate it,” she says.
“Now that he is the one under investigation, he discredits journalism”
The journalist has compared the attacks to threats she previously received for her work. “After receiving death threats, you’re not just thinking about yourself, but also, ‘if someone comes and shoots me, they shoot the lady next door, or the child in the cinema,’ or who knows,” says Hernández.
Women Press Freedom stands in unwavering solidarity with Anabel Hernández. We vehemently condemn President Obrador's actions, which led to insults and misogynistic attacks aimed at discrediting the journalist and her work. We perceive such actions as a clear attempt to suppress freedom of expression. This is particularly concerning in a country like Mexico, where journalists often face serious repercussions for their reporting.
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