Mexico City, Mexico – Renowned investigative journalist Anabel Hernández on October 21, accused Mexico’s ruling MORENA political party of harassment and said that any future attacks on her or her family should be attributed to the party.
Party loyalists allegedly verbally harassed the “Narcoland” author outside the New York City trial of former Mexican Security Chief Genaro García Luna on October 16.
“I’m concerned, and I do hold them responsible. I want to categorically state that I hold the MORENA party accountable for anything that happens to me or my family in Mexico, the United States, or anywhere else due to their involvement in this setup,” she told Mexican news outlet Aristegui Noticias.
Hernández has made a storied, 28-year-long career of revealing Mexico’s largest scandals related to drug cartels and elected officials. Her reporting has uncovered corruption in the highest echelons of government and has helped to show the world how deeply embedded Mexican political institutions are with organized crime.
In her latest book “La Historia Secreta: AMLO y Cártel de Sinaloa,” (The Secret Story: AMLO and the Sinaloa Cartel), Hernández claims that former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and current President Claudia Sheinbaum, as well as governors, mayors, and officials from the MORENA party, have been financed by the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the largest, most powerful criminal organizations in the world.
Outside the federal courthouse on Wednesday, MORENA loyalists harassed the journalist, screaming “traitor,” “gossiper” and “sell out.”
Hernández has suffered multiple assassination attempts since the publication of her book “Los Señores del Narco” (Narcoland in English) in 2010, where she accused several Mexican officials of collaborating with the Sinaloa Cartel, including the now-convicted García Luna, who she accused of ordering her murder.
Her career has been showcased by threats of violence and armed bodyguards assigned by the government to protect her. Regardless, the 53-year-old journalist has been ironclad in investigating the deep ties between the cartels and Mexican politicians.
Her investigations have followed serious accusations against Mexico’s most powerful figures, such as President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa (2006-2012), leader during García Luna’s time as Mexico’s security chief, and Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018), López Obrador’s predecessor.
While president, López Obrador championed Hernández for her work, calling her a “professional and courageous journalist” and an “exceptional woman.” However, when her investigations began pointing to López Obrador and his MORENA party, instead of his political rivals, the leader began bashing her during his morning press briefings, going as far as to accuse her of being a double agent for U.S. security agencies.
Hernández has claimed that López Obrador and President Sheinbaum have been financed by the Sinaloa Cartel, especially the former leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who was arrested on July 25 and is currently awaiting trial in the U.S.
According to her sources, she has discovered that the current ruling party is an enabler of the Sinaloa Cartel and has secured a network of high-profile politicians to empower its operations, including President Sheinbaum and Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, who has been previously accused of having ties with the cartel.
As the Zambada trial unfolds, Hernández has pledged to keep reporting on what the former drug kingpin has to say regarding his influence over Mexico’s current political dynasty.
“What Mayo Zambada has to say about his collusion with the MORENA party, with Governor Rocha Moya, and with the many MORENA municipal presidents in Sinaloa, including AMLO, who (was) the president of the republic because the cartel financed three presidential campaigns. There is a lot to say about this, and no one, not even with a gun to my head, has been able to silence me, much less now,” she said.
