Alice Mao Steinbauer APUSH September 15, 2011 Current Events Project On September 13th, two mutilated bodies

were discovered hanging from a pedestrian bridge in the city of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, bordering Texas. There were signs left close to the bodies saying that the two were killed for their posts on a social networking site. Apparently, they had posted denouncements of drug cartel activities online. There were no witnesses to the crime and no one has come to claim or identify the bodies. In addition, the notes by the bodies specifically threatened two social media networks, Al Rojo Vivo and Blog del Narco. Both are well known websites trying to keep the public informed about cartel related violence. The threatening messages were signed Z, which could possibly be a reference to the drug cartel, Los Zetas, currently operating in the area. This incident served as a dire warning for social media users in Mexico. News reporters as well as bloggers have been seeing cartel related violence happening everyday all around the country, but have been too afraid to say anything about it due to receiving threats. In a case before this one, two female media workers were killed in Mexico City. Because of this, anonymous online posting became one of the main forms of free speech in the last few years. However, the murder of the two young adults could result in self-imposed media blackouts in much of the country. An investigator, Ricardo Castillo, says he hasnt seen any threats against regular social network users in his four years in Nuevo Laredo even though the signs of abuse on

the two corpses could indicate otherwise. The wounds were consistent to those of drug related violence seen in other incidents. This is a serious, growing issue. The brutal murder of these two young adults is not the first act of violence and certainly not the last. The drug war currently going on in Mexico has already taken countless lives. The government has taken action, putting the city under martial law. In addition to this, they have also sent in Mexican military and Tamaulipas state police to clear the citys police departments of corrupt officers. The mayor of Nuevo Laredo says things are getting better, but still not at a level where they want it to be.

Title: Bodies hanging from bridge in Mexico are warning to social media users Author: Mariano Castillo Website: CNN- http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/09/14/mexico.violence/ Date of publication: September 14th, updated again September 15th