Mexican Government Criticized for Lack of Transparency on Its Security Policy PressTV
go to original November 15, 2013

This September, Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto presented his first overview after 10 months in power.

As the country is still fighting against drug-related violence and organized crime, journalists and observers expect clear results on security.

In other words: The Government has arrested 65 high-profile criminals. But who are they? Nobody knows. The only arrest the press was given access to cover was of cartel leader Miguel Trevino Morales, known as Z-40.

Some Mexican medias demanded that the Government publish the list of detainees. The answer was that they could not, for security reasons. Now, this happens just when the Government is being criticized for his lack of transparency on its security policy.

Anabel Hernandez, a well-known investigative journalist who specializes in these issues, alleges that the figures have been fabricated.

The contrast is huge compared to president Felipe Calderon's years in power from 2006 to 2012. That period is remembered as a time when detainees were routinely over-exposed to the press - sometimes even before undergoing a formal trial.

Whilst many human rights groups agree the former President's strategy of showing detainees to the press violated their rights, Pena Nieto's obscure communication approach to security is now also receiving criticism - for its lack of transparency.

The government doesn't respond to the rumors that allege the list of detainees doesn't exist. In any case, NGOs claim that if these arrests actually took place, the secrecy of the whole process may put the detainees' fundamental rights at risk.

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