International
Mexican journalist Anabel Hernández denounces the president’s censorship of her book on drug trafficking
Mexican journalist Anabel Hernández accused in an interview with EFE the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador of exercising a “terrible censorship that suffocates” to her new book ‘The Secret Story: AMLO and the Sinaloa Cartel’, on social networks and media, which she compared to the threats she has previously suffered for her publications.
“It’s a virtual murder when they don’t let you say things, when they don’t let you communicate, when, on the one hand, they take away any possibility of explaining the investigation,” Hernández said.
“On the other hand, the President of the Republic has the monopoly of communication, through his ‘morning’ conference, where there are already several occasions that disqualify me and disqualify my work. There are insults, there is machismo, there is misogyny,” he continued.
Mexico is the war-free country with the most journalists killed in the last decade, according to figures from Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an organization that has also denounced the increase in the hostilities of the current government towards this profession, which increases the danger of exercising it.
Anabel Hernández, who has suffered these aggressions, recalled her colleague Javier Valdez, executed after publishing about Los Chapitos in Sinaloa, a “very painful” experience that the author mentions in the book.
“Althout Javier and I didn’t talk very often, when we talked and looked at each other, it was very deep because we both lived in terrible isolation,” he described.
“Because after you receive death threats, you are not thinking only of yourself, but of ‘if someone comes and shoots me, the lady next door shoots him, or the child who is in the cinema’, or what do I know,” Hernández added.
The author of ‘Los Señores del Narco’ (2010) pointed out that at the beginning of the current government, López Obrador “congratulated” her for her investigations into Genaro García Luna, former Secretary of Security of the presidency of Felipe Calderón (2006-2012), now imprisoned in the United States for the revelations she published 14 years ago.
“Only now that he is the one who is being investigated, now he does denoy journalism. No, the power does not understand that journalists are not here to applaud it, we are to investigate it,” he said.
The journalist explained that “there are two key witnesses who testified against García Luna in New York,” who also pointed out López Obrador’s links with the cartel.
One, according to Anabel Hernández, is King Zambada, “who has already declared in court, in a trial that did give money to López Obrador’s campaign.”
And the other is “Sergio Villarreal Barragán, alias El Grande, who has also already declared in the PGR (extinct Attorney General’s Office) and in the trial of Genaro García Luna,” about the links of both politicians with organized crime.
In addition, Hernández defended that his sources are “direct witnesses” of the facts, which is not easy to process as a journalist, since it is necessary to question it and contrast it again and again, which becomes “very exhausting.”
The book is published in the middle of the campaigns before the elections of June 2 and, even, the opposition presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez quoted it during the last debate last Sunday.
But the journalist indicated that the work “was in process for four years” and it was not until the end of 2023 and 2024 that she found “very important” testimonies that “put the last pieces of the puzzle” with “strongness and clarity.”
“I realized that the investigation was over, seeing that there really was such solid evidence that López Obrador came to power funded by the Sinaloa cartel,” he said.
The book, based on dozens of testimonies and judicial files from the United States, narrates how the Sinaloa Cartel would have financed López Obrador’s campaigns from 2006, until the mid-term elections of 2021, when his party, the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), devastated almost all States.
In the last chapter, ‘The Heiress’, Anabel Hernández proposes that that structure will probably pass into the hands of the ruling candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum.
“What I do have are many testimonies that there are members of the Sinaloa Cartel who are calling for a vote in favor of Claudia Sheinbaum. There are those who are saying that they will be better off with her than with Obrador,” he said.
International
Mexico City Mayor Invites U2 to Perform at Iconic Zócalo Plaza
Irish rock band U2, which spent Tuesday and Wednesday filming a new music video for its song Street of Dreams in the Historic Center of Mexico City, received an invitation to perform at the capital’s iconic Zócalo square from Mayor Clara Brugada.
Brugada shared the invitation through social media posts accompanied by photos and a video showing her meeting with the band members.
“This is an invitation for you to perform in our wonderful public square, the Zócalo. You are welcome here, and we would love to have you,” Brugada said in the video while handing a document to Bono, the band’s lead singer.
Bono responded by saying that the group would like “to begin its new tour in Mexico City.”
Referencing one of the band’s most famous songs, In the Name of Love, Brugada said she was greeting Bono along with The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr..
“Welcoming U2 to our capital means celebrating music, connection and the emotion that can be felt in every corner of this city,” Brugada wrote in one of her messages. “We are a city open to the world, vibrant and full of stories shared from the stage to the streets.”
She also described the Zócalo as “the country’s most important public square” and a cultural landmark for Latin America.
Over the years, the Zócalo has hosted massive concerts by internationally renowned artists and bands including Roger Waters, Paul McCartney, Manu Chao, Café Tacvba, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Los Tigres del Norte, La Maldita Vecindad, Silvio Rodríguez, Joan Manuel Serrat, Rosalía and Shakira, drawing hundreds of thousands of fans.
International
Marco Rubio Urges China to Help Restrain Iran Amid Gulf Tensions
Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Washington hopes to persuade China to take a more active role in stopping Iran from escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf, arguing that the crisis directly threatens Asian commercial interests.
“It is in China’s interest to resolve this situation. We hope to convince them to play a more active role in getting Iran to stop what it is doing now and trying to do in the Persian Gulf,” Rubio said during an interview with journalist Sean Hannity on Fox News while traveling aboard Air Force One.
The top U.S. diplomat said the conflict and concerns over the possible disruption of the Strait of Hormuz have already affected China’s interests.
Rubio noted that “a Chinese cargo ship was struck over the weekend,” referring to the exchange of attacks reported last Friday between Iran and the United States.
The remarks come amid growing international concern over rising tensions in the region and the potential impact on global trade routes and energy supplies.
International
Trump floats Vance-Rubio potential Republican ticket for 2028 election
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubiocould potentially form a Republican presidential ticket for the 2028 elections.
Speaking during a dinner with law enforcement officials as part of National Police Week, Trump publicly praised both officials and said they could make “an ideal team” for the next presidential race.
“Who likes JD Vance? Who likes Marco Rubio?” Trump asked attendees before adding that the pair “sound like a good combination.”
The president highlighted his vice president’s performance in office, stating that their current partnership has been highly effective. “JD is perfect, that has been a perfect formula,” Trump told reporters later.
He further suggested that a Vance-Rubio pairing could represent a strong presidential and vice-presidential ticket, although he stopped short of offering any formal endorsement.
“I think it sounds like a presidential candidate and a vice-presidential candidate,” he said, while clarifying that his remarks should not be interpreted as an official backing of any future campaign.
So far, neither Vance nor Rubio has publicly confirmed any intention to run in the 2028 presidential election.
Rubio previously sought the Republican nomination in 2016 but withdrew after losing the primary race to Trump. Later, in a December 2025 interview with Vanity Fair, he said he would be among the first to support Vance if he decided to run for the White House.
Vance, meanwhile, has recently dismissed speculation of any political rivalry with Rubio amid growing discussion about potential future GOP leadership.
Mexico City Mayor Invites U2 to Perform at Iconic Zócalo Plaza
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International3 hours agoMexico City Mayor Invites U2 to Perform at Iconic Zócalo Plaza