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Mortal danger for Mexico's reporters

March 28, 2020

Only Afghanistan and Syria are more dangerous than Mexico to be a reporter. Since 2000, over 100 reporters have been killed in Mexico. Death threats are part of the daily routine for Dulcina Parra.

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Many of these journalists have run afoul of the all-powerful drug cartels while pursuing their research. The police and other authorities often turn out to be in cahoots with organized crime, making the government’s official journalists’ protection programs highly controversial. Radio journalist Dulcina Parra investigates stories of corruption, crime syndicates and the dealings of the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico. She was abducted by a gang under El Chapo’s Sinaloa Cartel and only narrowly escaped execution. But soon after, she was back at work, fearlessly chasing her story. Why? "Who else would be left to do it?” she asks back. She’s turned down the precautions the government’s offered to take to protect her. Parra says an armed bodyguard would only make things more dangerous for her. She’s currently writing about a group of mothers searching for the bodies of their missing children. The majority of them were taken away and executed by the cartel, often with the aid of the local police. Parra has been in touch with the mothers for years, and that fact alone puts her well inside the danger zone. A report by Mariel Müller and Aitor Saéz.