On January 2,ésSá 2015, Mexican social activist and journalist Moisés Sánchez Cerezo was kidnapped from his home in Medellín de Bravo, Veracruz, Mexico, and killed. According to eyewitness reports, armed men dressed in civilian clothing broke into his house and forced him into a vehicle. The kidnappers also took Sánchez's computer, camera, and cellphones. Sánchez was the founder and director of the weekly newspaper La Unión ("The Union"), where he covered a variety of topics, including political corruption, government mismanagement, and organized crime. He was also active on social media as a reporter, and in his community as a taxi driver, small business owner, and neighborhood organizer. His family initially suspected that the mayor of Medellín de Bravo, Omar Cruz Reyes, was responsible for masterminding the kidnapping because Sánchez was a harsh critic of his administration. The mayor, however, pledged his innocence and stated that Sánchez and he maintained a close friendship. On January 24, his corpse was discovered inside a plastic bag in Manlio Fabio Altamirano, Veracruz. Post-mortem examinations confirmed that his kidnappers cut his throat open and severed his head while he was still alive before mutilating his body into several pieces. Investigators believe that municipal policemen, acting on orders of the mayor, participated in the murder. Sánchez was the first journalist kidnapped and killed in Mexico in 2015.
Background
Sánchez began his career in journalism in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was a house newspaper distributor for Notiver, one of the most-read newspapers in Veracruz. Sánchez became interested in journalism by socializing with reporters early in the morning before his daily distribution. Sánchez did not have a college degree nor any background in journalism. Years later he began participating in several civil society projects in Medellín de Bravo and founded the neighborhood Gutiérrez Rosas, where he lived. In 2005, Sánchez founded La Unión ("The Union"), a weekly newspaper based in Medellín de Bravo. Originally, the outlet had a print version that catered to readers in the municipality of Medellín de Bravo, including those in the regions of Puente Moreno, Paso del Toro, El Tejar, and Medellín, the county seat. He and other citizens interested in informing their community distributed the newspaper themselves. However, lack of funds forced Sánchez to switch from his free print edition to an online-only edition.
Under his management, La Unión covered a variety of topics, though it was characterized for its critical and direct reporting style. Sánchez was known for publishing articles about organized crime violence stemming from drug trafficking, local political corruption, traffic accidents, community concerns, and government mismanagement. He was also active on his personal Facebook page, where he made posted about public works left incomplete by the local government, like street potholes and water leaks. Sánchez also worked as a photographer and reporter for media outlets in the Veracruz–Boca del Río metropolitan area. He did not receive money for his work as a media worker, however. Sánchez provided for his family by being a taxi driver and owning a small grocery store. He was a taxi driver for two reasons: Sánchez wanted to earn enough money to make a living for his family. But he was also wanted that job because it allowed him to talk with people from his hometown on a daily basis. This provided a venue for him to collect information about citizens' pleas for his publications. His colleagues described Sánchez as a dedicated news gatherer, despite the fact that he was self-taught and had no professional training in journalism. Because Medellín de Bravo is semi-rural and located outside of the Veracruz metropolitan area, many media outlets do not report what occurs in the region. Official journalists relied on his information to report what occurred in Medellín de Bravo. According to his son, Sánchez was kidnapped for his journalism, given that he reported on violence in Medellín de Bravo and had received death threats. He believed this because the kidnappers did not take any money or valuable belongings from the house, and went specifically for Sánchez and his belongings related to his profession as a reporter. Weeks prior to his kidnapping, Sánchez had written about the public security problems in Medellín de Bravo.
