Overview

On September 26, 2014, 43 male students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College went missing in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico. According to official reports, the students commandeered several buses to travel to Mexico City to commemorate the anniversary of the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre. During the journey, local police intercepted the students and a confrontation ensued. By the morning, they had disappeared without a trace. Hernández reconstructs almost minute-by-minute the events of those nights in late September 2014, giving us what is surely the most complete picture available: her sources are unparalleled, since she has secured access to internal government documents that have not been made public, and to video surveillance footage the government has tried to hide and destroy. Hernández demolishes the Mexican state’s official version, which the Peña Nieto government cynically dubbed the “historic truth”. State officials at all levels, from police and prosecutors to the upper echelons of the PRI administration, conspired to put together a fake case, concealing or manipulating evidence, and arresting and torturing dozens of “suspects” who then obliged with full “confessions” that matched the official lie. In the wake of the students’ disappearances, protestors in Mexico took up the slogan “Fue el estado”—“It was the state”. Hernández’s book is the one that gives most precision and credibility to the claim: by following the role of the various Mexican state agencies through the events in such remarkable detail, she allows to see exactly which parts of the state are responsible for which component of this monumental crime.

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9781788735360

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Reviews

A Massacre in Mexico is a harrowing inquisition in to the fate of forty-three missing Mexican students and the governmental cover-up.This is sure to be a controversial, significant work, one that might anger more than a few powerful people in Mexico. Anabel Hernandez valiantly risks her safety to uncover a crime that the world shouldn't forget. -- Mya Alexice A powerful investigation for fans of true crime and nonfiction about the international drug trade. -- Frances O. Sandiford * Library Journal * It is the most comprehensive account of what is known about the attack - and about the astonishingly corrupt government investigation that followed. A Massacre in Mexico presents an overwhelming case that federal government investigators working for the administration of Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto created a false narrative of local culpability and sought to close the case before an investigation could reveal the involvement of federal officials. -- Christy Thornton * Jacobin * Brilliant . a masterful piece of journalism which counteracts the narrative of the state. -- Matt Williams * Medium * The stark truth of a sham 'war'... A product of five years' investigative reporting, Hernandez's meticulously researched explanation of the links between the Sinaloa cartel, the world's biggest criminal organisation, and Mexico's leadership makes for jaw-dropping reading. * Independent * An ambitious and daring sketch of the political nexus that ensures the Mexican system of narcotics delivery to the U.S. * Los Angeles Times * A harrowing inquisition into the fate of forty-three missing Mexican students and the governmental cover-up... Hernandez delves deep into the corruption and violence despite threats against her life. * Foreword Reviews * Narcoland describes a disastrous 'war on drugs' that has led to more than 80,000 deaths in half a dozen years. This is a book that exposes how everything in Mexico is implicated in the 'narco system.' -- Roberto Saviano, author of Gomorrah Praise for Narcoland: We would all be poorer without Hernandez's determination to account for a civil conflict that has cost at least 60,000 lives. There could be no greater shame for Mexico should such a fearless and dedicated reporter come to any harm. * Sunday Times * Anabel Hernandez, journalist and author, accuses the Mexican state of complicity with the cartels, and says the 'war on drugs' is a sham. She's had headless animals left at her door and her family have been threatened by gunmen ... Narcoland became, and remains, a bestseller: more than 100,000 copies sold in Mexico. -- Ed Vulliamy * Observer * Praise for Narcoland: Narcoland, with its explosive descriptions of decades of corruption permeating the upper echelons of government, leaves an extremely bad taste in the reader's mouth about the state of Mexico's perennially corrupt institutions - and begs the question: how much has changed? For Narcoland, Anabel Hernandez spent five years combing police, court and US papers, securing access to informers and sources and pursuing often fruitless requests for official files. The result is a searing indictment of a war on drugs she believes was a sham from the start. * Financial Times *

Author Information

Anabel Hernández is one of Mexico’s leading investigative journalists. She has worked on national dailies including Reforma, Milenio, El Universal and its investigative supplement La Revista. Her previous books including the award winning Narcoland, La familia presidencial, Fin de fiesta en los pinos, and Los cómplices del presidente. In awarding Hernández the 2012 Golden Pen of Freedom, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers noted, “Mexico has become one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, with violence and impunity remaining major challenges in terms of press freedom. In making this award, we recognize the strong stance Ms. Hernández has taken, at great personal risk, against drug cartels.”

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