Investigations and Awards

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City

Last month Francisco Gomez, an investigative reporter for the national daily El Universal, received honorable mention for uncovering that the U.S. Embassy had found a spy for the Beltran Leyva cartel among its ranks last fall. The spy flipped and was given the codename "Felipe." He became one of the primary protected witnesses that the Mexican government used to furnish its "Operacion Limpieza" (Operation Cleanup) investigation, the anti-corruption sweep that brought down 30 employees of the Attorney General's office, not to mention the head of Interpol and the drug czar. I contributed reporting to a Rolling Stone feature on the topic. Gomez took pity on me at the time and shared the sealed court documents that he'd used as the basis for his stories.

Mexico doesn't have a great tradition of investigative reporting. The press is still working out how to deal with its new freedoms since the end of one-party rule in 2000. But there are a few publications like Proceso, Rio Doce, and Reporte Indigo that aren't afraid to keep a check on power. And then there are the invidivual reporters like Gomez.