Amnesty International has welcomed the release of a Mexican indigenous human rights activist who was imprisoned for over two years on a fabricated murder charge. Raúl Hernández was acquitted by a judge in Guerrero State on Friday 27 August and immediately released. “The release of Raúl Hernández is a very welcome step. The Mexican authorities must now investigate his unfounded prosecution and compensate him fully for his unfair imprisonment," said...

Amnesty International has condemned the Mexican authorities’ decision to pursue charges against human rights defender Raúl Hernández for a murder he did not commit, after a state prosecutor today decided to continue the case against him. The State Attorney General’s Office of Guerrero upheld murder charges against Raúl Hernández, despite unreliable and fabricated evidence. The judge presiding over the case is expected to decide on his innocence or...

In a wave of escalating violence against the media, two Televisa television stations in northern Mexico were rocked by grenade attacks over the weekend. Local Televisa stations in the cities of Tamaulipas and Monterrey were hit by explosives about four hours apart on late Saturday and early Sunday, according to media reports. No injuries were reported, however news footage showed damage to vehicles and studio buildings. Sunday's blast at Televisa's Monterrey facility marks the second...

Mexican police on Saturday rescued two television journalists kidnapped by drug cartel members who demanded networks broadcast their messages. Security Minister Genero Garcia Luna said cameramen Javier Canales and Alejandro Hernandez were being held in the northern state of Coahuila by members of the Sinaloa cartel, Mexico's most powerful drug trade organization. The Sinaloa cartel is run by Mexico's top drug lord, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman. The two journalists were abducted...

At least four people were killed on Thursday, including two policemen, after an explosives-laden car rammed two police vehicles in Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez, officials said. The attack occurred after the arrest of Jesus Armando Acosta Guerrero, also known as “El 35,” the alleged leader of the organized crime organization called “La Linea” that coordinates and operates kidnappings, extortion, and drug trafficking, according to federal officials. Thursday’s...

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) will investigate military agression against three journalists who covered a police operation in Nuevo Laredo, in the state of Tamaulipas, reported El Universal. According to La Jornada, the CNDH also asked the army to take precautionary measures to protect the aggreived jounalists as a way of guaranteeing the free exercise of journalism. In a statement, the commission said that fighting crime does not justify assaulting journalists. ...

According to Mexican newspaper reports confirmed by SEDENA (Mexico’s National Defense Ministry) and the U.S. military, the U.S. Northern Command is training the Mexican military in counterinsurgency tactics used by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq. The U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, is the military command responsible for homeland defense efforts. NORTHCOM has an area of responsibility that includes the continental...

Mexico foiled an attempt by Hezbollah to establish a network in South America, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Tuesday. Hezbollah operatives employed Mexicans nationals with family ties to Lebanon to set up the network, designed to target Israel and the West, the Al-Seyassah daily said. According to the report, Mexican police mounted a surveillance operation on the group's leader, Jameel Nasr, who traveled frequently to Lebanon to receive information and instructions from Hezbollah...

Amnesty International has called on the Mexican authorities to release three community leaders who began a hunger strike in protest at their detention for taking part in a campaign against high electricity prices. Community leaders Sara López, Joaquín Aguilar and Guadalupe Borja were detained in July 2009 over their involvement in the National Movement against High Electricity Tariffs in the eastern state of Campeche. On Friday 14 May 2010, the three pledged to refuse...

Amnesty International has called on the Mexican authorities to protect an Indigenous community blockaded by more than 30 paramilitary gunmen with links to one of the country's main political parties. The 700 people living in San Juan Copala, in the Indigenous Triqui region of Oaxaca state, are virtually cut off from the outside world. They have restricted access to food and electricity and the armed group has also cut their water supply. Those trying to break the blockade have been...