One of Guadalajara’s most respected journalists and broadcasters says he was kidnapped for more than 30 hours as a “warning” to him about his reporting.
Jaime Barrera, 56, the host of Noticieros Televisa’s nightly news program in Guadalajara, described his ordeal as “a terrible experience I would not wish on anyone.”
The Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office (FGE) said Barrera was intercepted by three to four armed men shortly after he left the Megaradio station in the Jardines de San Ignacio neighborhood of Zapopan at around 2 p.m. on Monday, March 11.
The journalist was bundled into his own SUV, blindfolded and driven to another Zapopan neighborhood, where the SUV was abandoned. According to the FGE, surveillance cameras were able to track the journey of the SUV from outside the radio station to where it was ditched, but did not say if they managed to follow the trail any further.
Authorities were alerted to Barrera’s disappearance by his daughter, Itzul Barrera, a national advisor for the Morena Party of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.