Plan Mexico's Prisoner
On July 3 Mexican federal investigators pulled Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno from his prison cell to an interrogation room for the fifth time. The fierce questioning, laced with expletives and threats, had one goal: Force Martínez's confession to the murder of U.S. journalist Brad Will.
Plan Mexico's Prisoner
Todd Miller
Aug 7 2009
North American Congress on Latin America
On July 3 Mexican federal investigators pulled Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno from his prison cell to an interrogation room for the fifth time. The fierce questioning, laced with expletives and threats, had one goal: Force Martínez's confession to the murder of U.S. journalist Brad Will.
Martínez's lawyer, Alba Gabriela Cruz, says her client has suffered intense "psychological torture" and lives in fear. She says Martíinez once told her: "If I get out of here the federal investigators will want to kill me. I will have to leave Oaxaca."
Martínez and his lawyer insist he is being framed for the murder of Brad Will. Martínez was arrested two years after gunmen fatally wounded Will on October 27, 2006, while he was filming street protests on the streets of Oaxaca. Human rights groups have denounced the charges against him as a complete fabrication and have initiated a campaign to demand his release. Photographs of the shooting and Will's own video footage of his death clearly corroborate Martínez's version. Despite authorities total lack of evidence, Martínez remains in prison and faces a potential 40-year sentence.
Cruz believes the motive behind her client's incarceration is that for the Mexican government more than a billion dollars in drug war money hang in the balance. She says that prosecuting a culprit in the Will case – any culprit, guilty or not – helps the Mexican government whitewash its human rights record for the Obama administration. Not having someone in jail for Will's murder would be a public relations disaster for the $1.6 billion being offered to Mexico under the Mérida Initiative – Washington's anti-drug aid package, also known as Plan Mexico.