• HOME
  • ABOUT

November 14, 2011
by Ana Arana

Twitter user arrested for joking about helicopter crash

At least one Mexican Twitter user was detained by local police after a series of sarcastic tweets made after a helicopter crash that killed Mexico’s interior minister Francisco Blake Mora, as well as seven other Mexican officials. A citizen identified as Mareo Flores or @MareoFlores was detained by local police based on tweets he made on 11 and 12 November. One of his tweets sent after the crash, said in English “Secretario de Gobernación singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly…”. According to his father, Mareo was arrested by men who arrived in five unmarked blackcars on 13 November, and released a few hours later after prosecutors interviewed him. Federico Areola of SDP Noticias criticised officials for the arrest, because the official investigation indicates that the crash was an accident, rather than an assassination. Another Twitter user, @Morfe0, also gained fame on 11 November, after it was revealed he had predicted the helicopter crash in a message he sent out on 10 November, joking that Mexicans should avoid Paseo de la Reforma, a famous avenue in Mexico City because ministers would fall from the sky on the account of the ominous 11/11/11 date. He was also referencing the 2008 death of another interior minister, Juan Camilo Mouriño, who died after the Lear jet in which he was traveling crash near Reforma Avenue.

  • delicious Bookmark on Delicious
  • digg Digg this post
  • facebook Recommend on Facebook
  • google_buzz Buzz it up
  • reddit share via Reddit
  • twitter Tweet about it
  • yahoo_buzz Buzz it up
  • rss Subscribe to the comments on this post
  • print Print for later
  • email Tell a friend

Posted Under Americas Ana Arana Mexico

1 Trackbacks

Pingback: Government and Drug Cartels Both Threaten Freedom of Expression in Mexico | GrassrootsHeadlines.com on December 6, 2011

Leave a comment

* = Required

  • Regions
    • BRAZIL Rafael Spuldar
    • CHINA Alice Xin Liu
    • EGYPT
    • INDIA Mahima Kaul
    • IRAN
    • MEXICO Ana Arana
    • RUSSIA Elena Vlasenko
    • SOUTH AFRICA Christi van der Westhuizen
    • SOUTHEAST ASIA
    • SUB-SAHARA
    • TUNISIA Afef Abrougui
    • TURKEY Kaya Genç
  • Recent

    • Saradha Group scandal exposes ties between India’s media, politicians
    • Moroccan atheist Imad Habib hiding from police
    • What Russia censored in March
    • South African parliament passes ‘secrecy bill’
    • Tunisian court fails to review verdict in Muhammad cartoon case
    • Guatemalan newspaper faces cyber attacks after exposing corruption
    • Bahrain’s grand prix problem
  • Twitter: indexcensorship

    • In Mexico drug gangs target local journalists - http://t.co/lmTGF7sglf via @indexcensorship about 5 hours ago
    • Free expression in the news #algeria #bahrain #india #italy #russia #us http://t.co/3oLAwAsgSN via @indexcensorship about 5 hours ago
    • Thanks for following the show with us, and check out our website for more coverage on the state of freedom of expression. Bonne nuit Europe! 22:06:59 PM May 18
    @indexcensorship
  • MEXICO

    The second largest country in Latin America after Brazil, Mexico has the 14th largest economy in the world. The country has been shaken by the growth of powerful drug cartels that have wreaked havoc in Mexico’s regions.

    The cartels have an insidious impact on civil society. A study by the Fundación de Periodismo de Investigación (MEPI) of 11 drug-affected provinces – almost half of Mexico’s state territories – found that newspapers report only three out of ten drug-related news stories, if not fewer. There is little official censorship, although press freedom at the state level is controlled by financial restraints, as the provincial press depend on state advertising.

    I have been a journalist for three decades, in the 1980s I reported on Central America and its civil wars. In the 1990s I covered Colombia for US news outlets and since 1993, when I left daily journalism, I have focused on investigative journalism projects. I worked first for the New York based Committee to Protect Journalists and then moved to the Open Society Institute of West Africa, where I helped set up a media assistance project in Guinea Bissau. In 2007 I came to Mexico as a Knight international Fellow to train local newsrooms.

    In January 2010 with the help of other journalists and editors I launched the Fundación de Periodismo de Investigación (MEPI) launched to promote investigations and work with journalists in the US, Mexico and Central America

    Contact Email
    RSS
    Subscribe to Ana Arana
    Blog fmepi.blogspot.com
    Also Twitter Facebook