Problem
Anabel Hernández takes on México's drug cartels.
Watch YouTube video: "Uncovering crime and corruption - Anabel Hernández takes on Mexico's drug cartels | DW Documentary".
Trigger warning- scenes of death and violence
What does it mean to no longer be safe in your own country? In the documentary, exiled Turkish journalist, Can Dündar, meets a woman who has locked horns with Mexico's most powerful entities: the government, and the drug cartels. In Erdogan's Turkey, Can Dündar is public enemy number one. After he uncovered illegal Turkish arms shipments to Syria in 2015, the President said he was a terrorist, and personally called for a life sentence in prison for the journalist. Can Dündar fled to Germany following an attempt on his life during his trial. Since then, he has continued to defend his homeland against the autocrat's lies, promoting freedom of speech from exile.
In this documentary, Dündar meets the journalist Anabel Hernández, who's been investigating drug-related crime and corruption in Mexico for more than 20 years, publishing numerous books and articles on the subject. She is best known for highlighting close links between the government and the drug cartels -- ground-breaking research that almost cost her life. Can Dündar meets with her and poses the pivotal question: What's driving her to take this huge risk again and again?
Answer the following questions while you watch the film:
A. What inspired Anabel Hernández to do the type of work that she does?
B. How many people have died in Mexico's drug war since 2005?
C. Why does Turkish journalist, Can Dündar, decide to go to Guerrero to get a sense of what Anabel Hernández's work? What happened in Sept of 2014? What reminders of this event do we see throughout the film?
D. Why does Can Dündar suggest that journalists in Mexico and Turkey have to "wear the costume of a prosecutor"?
E. Who are Anabel Hernández's most important sources?
F. Why does Anabel Hernández criticize former president, Felipe Calderón's, supposed "war on drugs"? What did Calderón actually do to exacerbate the war between the cartels?
G. What are some of the ways Anabel Hernández shows her bravery?
H. Who is Mario Vergara? How does Can Dundar compare Mario's quest to that of Anabel?
I. What is Anabel Hernández's hope for Mexico?
J. What are three things you learned from the documentary that surprised you?