Chapa says his #reynosafollow source was told that Fuentes had been unable to save a young boy who’d been brought into her clinic. Because of the anonymity of the online community in Reynosa and extreme distrust of corrupt authorities in Tamaulipas, it’s difficult even to verify the simplest details of the case-like whether really was a doctor named Maria del Rosario Fuentes Rubio.Ĭhapa says one of the original leaders of the #reynosafollow hashtag who has been investigating the death is reasonably confident that was a doctor, but that her death had more to do with her day job than her online reporting. But in a country where 98 percent of murders remain unsolved, the motives behind her killing may never be revealed and her killers never brought to justice. On Thursday afternoon, the Tamaulipas attorney general’s office opened an investigation into Fuentes’ kidnapping and murder. “Reynosafollow users are ditching their phones, changing phone numbers and doing other things to try and protect themselves.”Īfter the threatening posts, the account was deactivated by Twitter. Reynosa’s online users worry that if the killers have Fuentes’ cell phone they’ll have their contact information as well. “It’s created a great amount of fear,” Chapa says.
Defying the censorship can mean being killed or was well known among #reynosafollow users and posted on a daily basis, says Sergio Chapa, interactive manager with the Harlingen TV station KGBT, who was one of the first to write about Fuentes’ alleged murder. They take great pains to hide their identities online. Many Reynosa residents rely on #reynosafollow to warn others of gun battles, narco blockades and other dangers in their city. Since 2010, ordinary citizens using Twitter, Facebook and other social media have tried to fill the vacuum left by traditional media. The state of Tamaulipas is infamous now as a place where almost total censorship reigns under organized crime and reporters risk kidnapping and death. Mexico has become one of the deadliest countries for journalists in recent years. “I can only tell you to not make the same mistake I did, it doesn’t benefit you, quite the opposite as I realize today.” “Friends and family, my real name is Maria Del Rosario Fuentes Rubio, I’m a doctor and today, my life has come to an end.” A well-known citizen journalist who used the Twitter handle was reportedly kidnapped and killed Wednesday in the border city of Reynosa.Įarly Thursday morning, a string of threats were tweeted on the #reynosafollow hashtag from the account, along with what appeared to be pictures of her before and after her murder.