Mexican activist against violence is slain
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
REPORTING FROM MEXICO CITY — Six weeks ago he was face-to-face with President Felipe Calderon, denouncing the alleged abduction of his son by police and the threats against his own life for having spoken out (link in Spanish).
Now Nepomuceno Moreno is dead. He was gunned down midday on Monday in his home city of Hermosillo, shot seven times.
Moreno this year had joined a fast-growing protest movement led by poet Javier Sicilia, organized to decry violence unleashed by the government’s war on drug cartels. Gray-haired and 56, Moreno had become a fixture at ‘peace caravans’ and marches staged across the country.
A distraught Sicilia went on a radio program to blame authorities for Moreno’s slaying (link in Spanish). ‘Don Nepo is an example of a true citizen, a man who loves his country and loves his son, and this is the state’s response: neglect and collusion with crime.’
Here’s a video in which Moreno describes in Spanish the 2010 kidnapping of his son.
RELATED:
Mexico poet an emblem of nation’s drug war carnage
Violent deaths in Mexico activist’s family know no end
— Tracy Wilkinson and Cecilia Sanchez
