Aristegui Uncompromising, MexicoLeaks reporters fired, MVS Hacked, Public Outcry, EPN mum

By Lucio R. Borderland Beat

LA Times describes Carmen Aristegui in this way:

“She is sort of a cross between Christiane Amanpour and a dog with a bone. Carmen Aristegui is possibly Mexico's most famous journalist, very courageous and often annoying.”

This BB contributor says simply, she is the most fearless, scrupulous, ethical, authentic, loved journalist in Mexico. Attaching the name “Carmen” to a news story is all the credibility one usually needs.

We at BB know that she is the one reporter that Dr. Mireles found most trustworthy. He found her exceedingly fair, even when she asked uncomfortable questions. 

He was fooled by others, those from Televisa, who can forget that edited “interview” with its creative cuts leaving a message not only out of context, but 180 degrees from context.

Or Proceso, once fair in their reporting of Dr. Mireles, but after Anabel Hernandez began writing for them, and wrote a series of unfavorable reports about Dr. Mireles, where she stretched the truth and toyed with the facts.  Proceso began publishing articles that compromised integrity of the interviews and headlines about Dr. Mireles, such as “If they want war we will give them war”.  Something he never said.  How could they not know Dr. Mireles habitually recorded all interviews? 

                               Casa Migrante in Saltillo Coahuila in support of Aristegui for defending human rights

Dr. Mireles stopped doing interviews with both news agencies. Telling BB “I don’t know Hernandez, she has never asked to speak to me or asked a single question, how is that fair journalism?”

Mireles was not difficult to connect with. If this blog had no issues connecting and communicating with Mireles, surely Hernandez would have had no problem.

It is dangerous to tell the truth in Mexico, the country deemed the most dangerous place in the American continent to be a reporter. 


This results in journalists being paid, or threatened into producing an agenda or narrative that has nothing to do with reality, or used to destroy a reputation of someone acting in a threatening manner to organized crime, or someone from the political world.

Fear is the most powerful weapon against truth in journalism.  Let’s be honest, it is why most of us bloggers in Mexico or those having loved ones in Mexico hide behind a nom de plume.

But Aristegui is cut from a different cloth than just about any other journalist in Mexico or anywhere else for that matter.

(at left Omar Garcia, normalista Ayotzinapa activist protested in support of Aristegui and against MVS decision to fire investigative reporters on Thursday. Read his story  by following this link)

She is unyielding to outside pressure, those who would have her bend or hide an uncomfortable story affecting those who come for a position of power, never compromising her ridged sense of fairness, veracity and impartiality,….for anyone.


The popular journalist has 4.5 million followers on Facebook and over 3.5 followers on Twitter.  That is equal to the president of Mexico. 

Carmen Aristegui, she is the anchor of the news program Aristegui on CNN en Español and of the morning news program on MVS Radio as well as writes for Reforma.

She was born in Mexico City in 1964, one of 7 children born to refugees of the Spanish Civil War. 

Her career in journalism began at TV Azteca, from there, Televisa, Universal, among others and since 2006 she has been with CNN Mexico.  She has been with MVS news agency for 6 bumpy years.   

Calderon a drunk?


In 2011 she was fired over a controversy when she inferred  President Calderon may have a drinking problem.  “You wouldn’t want to ride in a vehicle driven by a drunk would you?  Then why would it be ok to allow one to run the country”.

Ouch.

In typical Aristegui fashion, she expected and believed, that  Calderon had an obligation to address the accusation.  While she didn't "have any specific information" as to whether the president had problems with alcohol, and she added "this is a delicate topic" she remained with the opinion, that the President Calderón had an obligation to reply to the charge.

She was fired 3 days later.   

MVS:  "In our code of ethics," MVS said in a statement, "we pledge to reject the presentation and dissemination of rumors as news. The journalist Carmen Aristegui violated our code of ethics and we decided to terminate our existing contractual relationship.”

While few would disagree with that summation, if she were a newscaster, but she was never hired as a presenter of news; she is an editorialist, an investigative reporter.  Hired to make comment,  give an opinion or expose uncomfortable secrets.

She was given a statement of apology and Aristegui was instructed to  read it on the air.  

She flat out refused.  

Her termination was announced that evening.

But within hours MVS bosses were told of the intense reaction by the public, which had gone viral on social networks.  After a few days of public outcry, plus long communication between MVS and representatives of President Calderon, without a word or fanfare, Aristegui was back on the air in 10 days.

Neither Aristegui nor the station ever gave a statement to her return, apparently the parties agreeing to disagree and agreeing not to speak further of it.

Aristegui has confronted and has been open about the death threats she endures, experiencing  an escalation this past year.  

MexicoLeaks

This week Aristegui finds herself in a familiar position,  once again in conflict with those that sign her paycheck, the head honchos at MVS radio, a station that I regularly listen to for an  hour daily…to hear and learn from Carmen Aristegui.

The latest conflict began this week with the inauguration of a new online program  called MexicoLeaks.   (link to MEXICOLEAKS site here)

                                                        Daniel Lizárraga and Irving Huerta

MexicoLeaks, is a forum createdto censure and examine corruption in Mexico. Mexico Leaks fashioned itself to the WikiLeaks format.  A  safe place,  for informers to utilize to leak information and documents.  

MVS Radio not only hated the idea, it called out  several of its employees as indecorously representing themselves, by implying  that MVS was a sponsor of the program.

MVS said by the program using the station label they were deceiving the public in the process. They ran ads even on Aristegui’s hour to slam home the position.

On Wednesday, when the MVS ads came out, Aristegui went on air and gave what can be described as a bid adieu.  She must have been encouraged to rethink her position, because she then came back on Thursday with redress and determination, saying she was not going anywhere:

“To do so would be to relinquish a part of what little free speech there is in Mexico.”

Later that day, the station then got the hammer out, and without consulting Aristegui, fired two reporters,  Daniel Lizárraga and Irving Huerta, vital members of her investigative staff.  They were investigating and producing the first two stories about; conflict of interest (EPN)  and one onhuman rights abuses.

It isn’t that the MVS thinks for one second that they are convincing the Mexican public that this action and hoopla is about inappropriate usage of a logo.  Frankly, they do not care what the public thinks, because they count on the long run, when the story fades and nothing changes.  The Mexican way, corruption survives because actions such as these prevent the truth from seeing sunlight. 

We are supposed to believe that this, was not in fact due to Aristegui being what is called in Mexico “an inconvenient” or “uncomfortable” public person.  

                                                                 E.P.N's "Casa Blanca"

Or that it wasn't because the terminated journalists, were exposing further information involving President Enrique Pena Nieto and wife and those mansions that continue to need explaining.  Those multimillion dollar mansions, that appears to have a nasty conflict of interest problem, like their notorious luxury mansion of Lomas de Chapultepec, in Mexico City. Questions go unanswered regarding his acquisition of the property. 

That scandal led to other questions such as  the relationship between Peña Nieto and the businessman Juan Armando Hinajosa, owner of the Higa Group.  The group cultivated close ties to various officials in the Mexican government, and has largely benefited from government contracts, going back to when Peña Nieto was governor of Mexico state.

EPN was  hoping the controversy was ebbing.   Then came MexicoLeaks, a nightmare for EPN trapping him between a boulder and a slate wall. 

The boulder because Mexico Leaks split open the wound of the controversy to a massive audience and a slate wall because by the MVS reaction, which rendered the public outraged and infuriated. #EnDefensaDeAristegui trended on social networks.  

The public initiated a protest.  Marching in front of MVS studios, collecting 130,00 signatures in 1 day in support of MexicoLeaks, Aristegui and the fired journalists.

MVS Hacked   

In addition to the public outcry, yesterday “Anonymous Hispanio” and “Anonymous Mexico” hacked into the MVS website portal.

Anonymous posted a statement on the MVS website that read in part; Journalists, reporters and activists have been forced to give up investigative  research, and real news has been blatantly shrouded by a series of lies that have hindered the advancement and growth of the nation and its citizens."

As for President Peña, his office has refused requests for a statement.

sources: a portion of information used to write this post from: BB Archives, Twitter, Facebook, Arestegui News