Early life and career[edit]

Bladimir Antuna was married with two children.[1]

Antuna started his journalism career before 1990.[1] Before he joined El Tiempo De
Durango newspaper, he had been a journalist at other newspapers and also had worked in
radio.[2][1] Antuna was a crime reporter and editor of the crime section at El Tiempo De
Durango for the last three years.[3][4] While working there, he collaborated with fellow
journalist Eliseo Barrón Hernández, who was a journalist with La Opinión de
Torreón in Torreón, Mexico. Both investigated police corruption in Durango. Antuna
received three threats before he was killed, according to his editor.[2][5] While working on this
investigation, Antuna received death threats and some of those death threats were coming
from members of the Los Zetas crime group.[6] On 28 April 2009, a gunman had opened fire
at Antuna as he was leaving his home but escaped uninjured from the incident. Later,
Antuna received an anonymous call that said, "We've found your home. It's over for you
now." After the attack, Antuna went to the authorities to report the attack. Afterwards he
was assigned a body guard, but the attorney general had also made a note in his file that
he was "paranoid."[7] His friends said he was aware of the danger and had confided in them
saying he was not afraid of dying.[7][8] Carlos Ortega Samper, who also worked at El Tiempo
De Durango, was killed 3 May 2009.[9] On 27 May 2009, the same day Eliseo Barrón was
beaten and killed, Antuna was threatened again.[10][11] Antuna was investigating both
Barrón's and Samper's murder at the time he was killed.[7]

Death[edit]

Mexico City
Durango, Durango
Mentioned locations, Durango shown relative to the capital Mexico City, Mexico.

On the morning on 2 November 2009, Antuna was abducted while he was on his way to
work.[12] Witnesses said two SUVs had diverted Antuna's Ford Explorer while he was driving
on Normal Avenue, a main street in Durango. A group of 4 armed men with assault rifles
stepped out of their white Cherokee truck and Chevy SUV to surround Antuna's red Ford
Explorer. The men pulled Antuna out of his vehicle and into one of the vehicles then drove
away.[7][12][13] Around 9 p.m., the body of Antuna was found nearby the site of the abduction
behind a hospital and across from El Parque Guadiana in the Los Angeles
neighborhood.[2][7][13]His corpse showed signs that he was strangled and had bruises and
bullet wounds to the head and abdomen.[8][14] According to the coroner's report, Antuna had
died from "asphyxia from strangulation."[14][15] A message was found on the body said "This
happened to me because I gave information to the military and wrote things that I should
not have written. Be careful when preparing stories. Sincerely, Bladimir."[2][12]

Context[edit]
Since December 2006 the Mexican government initiated a drug war against drug trafficking
in Mexico. The violence and crime is considered dangerous enough for the United
States authorities to advise US citizens to avoid traveling through some parts of
Mexico.[16] Durango specifically became violent due to a drug-gang known as Los Zetas,
which competed for territory of the rival Sinaloa Cartel. The latter had control over Durango
territory first. The journalists in Durango said they were threatened by the drug cartels and
the state government. Both cartels used publicity contracts and instructed owners of media
companies not publicize negative news about them.[8]As Mexico tried to go after the drug
traffickers, the violence escalated in Durango and other areas of the country. As the battle
continues people in drug cartels make millions of dollars allowing them to continue the
business as long as it can.[17]

Impact[edit]
By the time of Antuna's murder, 12 to 13 journalists had already been killed in Mexico in
2009.[4][8] Antuna's case was well publicized 2009 because of its connection with Durango's
drug cartels and the fact that it was the fourth murder of a journalist there in a
year.[18][19] Gerardo Esparza Mata was murdered 10 October 2009 in Durango on his 40th
birthday.[20][21] The group El Frente Ciudadano por el Cambio said there was widespread fear
in Durango caused not only by murders but also by kidnappings.[22] The morning after
Antuna's murder, 40 journalist petitioned to condemn the crime.[15][23] Journalists in the area
said that they took Antuna's murder as a warning meant to intimidate journalists and the
Special Prosecutor for the Assault on Journalists (PGJE) announced that it would take over
the investigation.[8][19] However, the investigation yielded no results.[24]

Reactions[edit]
UNESCO is the arm of the United Nations charged with defending freedom of the press
and freedom of expression. After Antuna's corpse was discovered, Koïchiro Matsuura,
director-general, issued the following statement: "I condemn the murder of Vladimir Antuna
García. I am concerned that the ability of journalists to pursue their professional activities
and exercise the fundamental human right of freedom of expression is severely reduced in
the climate of fear created by the recent wave of killings in Mexico. I trust that the
authorities will spare no effort in identifying and prosecuting the culprits of these crimes that
undermine society as a whole, setting unacceptable limits to democracy, good governance
and rule of law."[25] Reporters Without Borders said, "The authorities knew that this journalist
was being threatened but they didn't protect him. Now he's been murdered and they’re still
doing nothing to protect the journalists who are investigating corruption and the drug trade
in various states including Durango."[4][5] Mexico's National Human Rights
Commission initiated its own human rights investigation in Antuna's case and called on the
government to thoroughly investigate the case.[21]