Introduction
There have been at least 10,000 minors orphaned, 120,000 persons displaced, and 23,000 young people recruited by organised crime over the course of the current presidential administration in Mexico, in power since 2006.515 More than 30 mayors have also been assassinated since President Felipe Calderón declared a war on drug trafficking in December 2006, with results that to date have been catastrophic. Although there are no official statistics regarding how many civilians have been murdered since 2006, the Zeta, a weekly paper in Tijuana, has documented 50,490 executions throughout the country between December 2006 and May 2011.516
As in any war, the general population is very vulnerable. Both assassins and members of the armed forces have been killed. The army has violated civil rights during its raids and roadblocks.517 Drug cartels use the bodies of their victims to frighten and intimidate their opponents and to send warnings. Reports say 1,226 of the people who have died in the crossfire or in direct attacks between December 2006 and December 2010 are children and teenagers.518
The violence that is part of this war does not only affect Mexicans: 10,000 kidnappings of migrants have been registered. In April 2011, a common grave with the bodies of 72 migrants was found in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, and similar cases have occurred regularly elsewhere. Recently, some Central Americans denounced the fact that they were “sold” by agents from the National Migration Institute to the organised crime group Los Zetas.519 These crimes can be categorised as crimes against humanity.
Information and action against violence
According to the organisations Article 19 and CENCOS (National Centre for Social Communication), more information and better quality information is urgently needed:
Society needs to know the origin and nature of this violence, without delay. To this end, the people dedicated to disseminating information and opinions regarding the violence should have the minimum guarantees for their security afforded by the state. In the case of falling victim to intimidation, they should be provided with the necessary protection to safeguard their physical integrity and that of their families, so that they can exercise their right to justice.520
Despite statements like these, some university professors who carry out research on drug trafficking and organised crime have disappeared, been murdered or have emigrated to other countries where their security can be guaranteed.521 Journalists who work in Mexico work in one of the most dangerous places in the Americas.522 According to Article 19 and CENCOS, in 2010 alone, 129 journalists and people in the field of communications media were attacked. The attacks upon female journalists and communicators also include threats to their families.523 In the first quarter of the 2011, eleven journalists were murdered.524
For this reason, some newspapers have changed their idea of journalism in order to carry on reporting in the face of the violence, threats, kidnappings and murders. An example is El Diario Vanguardia, based in the northern state of Coahuila, which was able to create a community of 30,000 Facebook users and 12,000 Twitter followers to call upon authorities to provide timely and real-time information about the situation. In response to the pressure, the police in the state capital opened a Twitter account (@policiasaltillo). According to the digital publication El periodismo digital, the Twitter account created “a way to receive information about what is happening in the city in real time, even though this information is not often included in the newspapers the next day due to the risks.”525 In another example, also in the state of Coahuila, the attorney general has provided information about recent cases of violence using his Twitter and Facebook accounts.526
In this way, social networks have started to appear in different states of Mexico as sources of real-time information. In February 2010, for example, in Torreón, Coahuila, the first alerts about a shooting incident were sent out on Twitter. Similar cases have occurred in the states of Jalisco, Zacatecas and Durango. In Veracruz, Nayarit and San Luis Potosí, social networks were used to warn about kidnappings and extortion.527 In the states of Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Sinaloa, Guerrero, Morelos, Coahuila, Nuevo León and the Federal District, alerts about situations of violence circulated on social networks. In the Federal District, users also circulated the phone numbers of kidnappers and extortionists.528
Paradoxically, the internet has also become a tool used by drug cartels.529 Narco mails and narco videos targeting rival criminal organisations, as well as authorities and civil society, have proliferated.530 CNN reports that “videos supposedly sent by cartels show kidnap victims gagged and bound and being tortured at the time of being murdered.”531 According to a Mexican newspaper, “among all of the media that drug lords have at their reach to attract followers, social networks seem to have become one of their main vehicles for communication.”532 This has led some politicians to call for greater regulation on certain digital tools in the country.533
While the Mexican population is feeling vulnerable and afraid on a daily basis, it has also participated in different initiatives to say “No more bloodshed”. Mexicans have used many different kinds of media to remain united against the war. The internet and mobile phones have been important allies to different sectors of the population, allowing them to exchange information about drug cartel violence and to protect local communities in dangerous situations. Digital media have also served as a channel for the collective expression of civic discontent, and to mobilise citizens.534
As part of this general violence, the murders of women in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua and in other states of Mexico continue. At least 10,000 women and girls have been violently murdered over the last ten years. Most of these cases are not brought before the courts.535 Because of this, the families of victims and organisations working in solidarity with them mobilise on the internet. Many initiatives are very active online, such as Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa (Bring Our Daughters Home)536 or Justicia para Nuestras Hijas (Justice for Our Daughters), which has a blog,537 a Twitter account,538 a Facebook site,539 a channel on YouTube540 and a channel on Picasa with a photo gallery of the victims.541
A national map was created identifying the sites of crimes on the website Ciudadanía por la Paz y Justicia en México542 (Citizens for Peace and Justice in Mexico), which also encourages civic action. This is a public space. Every event or message sent by SMS, Twitter (#mapaMX #nosoncifras) or with an online form is pre.approved and published by a group of volunteers. For security reasons, personal information related to the authors of the published information is removed. This initiative is based in Cuernavaca, Morelos.543
Other social media sites include:
Por favor no más sangre (Please, no more bloodshed): This is a campaign that seeks to end the bloodshed of innocent people caused by the war on drug trafficking.544
Contingente Monterrey (The Monterrey Contingent): These citizens promote creative actions for peace. Their Facebook site reads: “We will meet on the second Sunday of every month on the Esplanade of the Heroes of Monterrey until THERE ARE NO MORE MISSING PERSONS OR INNOCENT DEATHS!”545
Poesía para nuestros muertos (Poetry for our dead): An initiative launched by a collective that invites action because “every Mexican has rights and we should fight for our DIGNITY, for PEACE and for JUSTICE to be a basic value in our country.”546
“Menos Días Aquí” (Fewer Days Here): A project run by volunteers with a blog that records a weekly count of the dead. “We count the number of deaths caused by violence in Mexico. In this way, we keep our dead alive.”547
Balacera MTY (Shooting in Monterrey): This offers timely and useful information shared by civilians to help avoid situations of risk. Balacera MTY is also active on Twitter.548
On Twitter, we also find:
#ContingenteMX: Digital action for peace supporting human rights.
#Sinviolencia: Reports and warns of crime.
#Tienennombre: Names victims of violence in Mexico. Emphasises that victims are not statistics – they have names.
#BalaceraGD
L: Keeps people informed of shootings and news about security issues in Guadalajara.
#noviolenciamx: Encourages action against violence.