KIDNAPPED FOR JOURNALISM: Missing Men Seen In Hostage Video In Lawless Mexico

This alarming video shows how two journalists appear with their hands and feet chained after they went missing in Mexico.

Journos Fernando Moreno Villegas, Alan Garcia Aguilar, and Jesus Pintor Alegre from Mexico’s Tierra Caliente region were last seen on 27th December.

A video of barefoot Fernando and Alan sitting next to each other bound in heavy chains was released on 7th January.

According to the NGO Periodistas Desplazados Mexico (Displaced Journalists Mexico), the men were snatched by criminals in Guerrero state.

Alan is the creator of the news site Escenario Calentano and Fernando is a contributor.

In the clip, Fernando can be heard saying: “We are here paying the consequences of the publications made against these people and different people from the Tierra Caliente region of Mexico State, Michoacan, and Guerrero.”

The chained journalists from the Escenario Calentano outlet Fernando Moreno and Alan Garcia answer questions by criminals that kidnapped them, in Mexico, undated. Them and Jesus Pintor Alegre, have been missing in Guerrero, Mexico, since Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (CEN)

Alan then explains that he created Escenario Calentano five years ago before the recording ends.

The footage was published on the site’s social media page along with a threatening message.

No mention was made of the third missing man.

Some have suggested that those behind the kidnapping of the men are members of the Familia Michoacana cartel, according to local media.

Escenario Calentano journalists had allegedly spoken to Guerrero state governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda following a massacre of 20 people in San Miguel Totolapan.

They had then predicted a heavy blow to drug trafficking groups.

Picture shows leader of the Michoacan Family, Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga alias El Pez, undated. Fernando Moreno, Alan Garcia and Jesus Pintor Alegre, have been missing in Guerrero, Mexico, since Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (CEN)

A post by the news portal read: “We had a great talk with the governor, there is no doubt that this will be nipped in the bud. Beware, Presidents, Pescado, and Fresa.”

“Presidentes” (Presidents) is believed to refer to mayors linked to organised crime, while “Pescado” and “Fresa” are said to refer to the Hurtado Olascoaga brothers.

The Hurtado Olascoaga brothers are Jose Alfredo ‘El Fresa’ (Strawberry) and Johnny ‘El Pez’ (Fish), who belong to the Familia Michoacana cartel.

There have already been multiple attacks on journalists reported across Mexico in 2023.

Picture shows leader of the Michoacan Family, Jose Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga alias El Fresa, undated. Fernando Moreno, Alan Garcia and Jesus Pintor Alegre, have been missing in Guerrero, Mexico, since Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (CEN)

Mexico is the country where most journalists were killed in 2022, according to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.