Federal Police Detain Juarez Journalist at Checkpoint

by Kristin Bricker


At approximately 1am local time on Sunday, June 12, Federal Police detained journalist Antonio Flores from the Juarez newspaper El Norte Digital.  Police in patrol car number 10889 detained Flores at the Gomez Morin checkpoint near his office.  They released him after about thirty minutes.  However, they confiscated his press credentials and noted his address.  Flores says he fears for his own safety and the safety of his family because now the Federal Police know where he lives.

As a result of the detention, Flores will have to flee his home temporarily because there are police trucks outside of his house.

At the time of his detention, Flores was returning home after covering the Caravan for Peace led by poet Javier Sicilia. Flores followed the Caravan from Cuernavaca to Ciudad Juarez.  The article he filed for his newspaper just before he was detained is an exclusive interview with Javier Sicilia.  Since he was returning to his home after traveling with the Caravan for Peace, the police found his Caravan press credentials when they searched his vehicle.