Cartel Kidnapping of Mexican Citizen Reporter 'Felina' Spreads Terror on Twitter Shannon Young - VICE News
go to original November 3, 2014

Dr. Maria del Rosario Fuentes always had her phone in her hand. Many of her friends, colleagues, and relatives had no idea it was her portal into a parallel life.

To many people who knew her, Fuentes was a 36-year-old general practitioner and mother in the Mexican border city of Reynosa. But on Twitter she was "Felina," a citizen reporter who hid behind a Catwoman avatar and used the handle @Miut3 to post information about cartel shootouts in her violence-plagued city, located just across the Rio Grande from Hidalgo, Texas.

The warnings — intended to help her fellow citizens avoid stray bullets and risky situations — were mixed with romantic quotes and greetings to her favorite followers. Then, suddenly, she fell silent.

On October 15, Fuentes was kidnapped by a group of armed men outside her workplace. She was unmasked as Felina early the next day. The last tweet published from her account contained two photos. In the first, she gazes into the camera with a sad and heavy look, her usual eye makeup washed away by tears. In the second, she is lying in a pool of blood with vacant, open eyes.

With these images came a warning: "Close your account. Don't risk your families as I have. I ask for forgiveness."

The gruesome images have amplified the message of fear and reinforced the belief that speaking out on Twitter about Mexico's cartels can get you killed.

Read the rest at VICE News

Graphic: Twitter

Murdered for Tweeting in Mexico: In Tamaulipas people use social media to get basic information. The drug cartels have silenced traditional news media. But the cartels are now turning their attention to prominent social media users too. (BBC/Skendong)

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!