Documentary ‘In full light’: a cry for #Ju5ticiaNarvarte

On Friday, July 31, 2015, in broad daylight, Alejandra Negrete, Nadia Vera, Yesenia Quiroz, Mile Martín and Rubén Espinosa were murdered in an apartment on Luz Saviñón street, in the Narvarte neighborhood of Mexico City; multiple feminicide and murder that was known in public opinion as the “Narvarte Case”, and led to the indictment of three involved already sentenced for these events.

In that convulsive year of 2015 where the protests for Ayotzinapa, the murders of journalists and a rapacious government led by Enrique Peña Nieto, this fact was felt as a direct message against the protest and freedom of expression. Rubén and Nadia had left Veracruz persecuted by the infamous government of Javier Duarte, and their assassination had all the hallmarks of being a political assassination in broad daylight. Day by day, the then Attorney General’s Office leaked to the media its “advances” revictimizing the victims and turning the investigation into the public eye with its truth, “it was all for a robbery.” Mile was stigmatized as “La Colombiana”, Yesenia was presented as a collateral victim and that she was surrounded by bad influences. Alejandra was simply “the domestic employee.” This strategy worked and in the collective unconscious the truth is that surely the victims were “into something and that’s why they were killed.”

When presenting evidence to the media, the Attorney General’s Office only showed segmented evidence such as the video where it states that three people were the only ones who participated in the events. We as a society witnessed this framework, but we always thought that there was something more behind it. That is why we approached the relatives of the victims and had access to the file. We investigated all the evidence and established statements for three years, and at the same time we confronted them with the different versions, realizing that an investigation was messy and manipulated to establish a version of the facts that did not escalate to the real culprits or reach the truth.

In every crime, the truth of the facts is in the evidence. In this case, that evidence consisted of videos and telecommunications expert reports that had not been shared with the families and lawyers for more than six years. By cross-checking the statements of the defendants and the videos obtained, we verified the existence of a second vehicle that assisted in the murders, making clear the participation of at least two more people in the “operation” carried out on July 31, 2015. .

We also detected that a lot of information in the file was not cross-referenced or analyzed. This explained why this had not been provided to the victims and relatives from the outset. The data proving a much more organized coordination of the crime were integrated from the first days in the judicial investigation and were deliberately omitted: requests for information on key telephone numbers, which could clarify the network behind the crime, were handled negligently .

Another finding in the investigation was that we found evidence contained in the judicial file that was never taken into account, such as greeting cards for Mile Martín signed by former public officials from the National Institute of Migration.

All these new findings were presented in vain to the now capital Prosecutor’s Office. Despite exposing these elements, officials remain indolent and do not thoroughly investigate the findings obtained by families, attorneys, and investigators.

Today it is clear that there are free people who participated in these events and that we still do not know what was the real motive behind the Narvarte Case. What we already know is why we don’t: the same authorities covered up this heinous crime.

In Mexico, after committing a crime, be it murders, disappearances, kidnappings or femicides, the struggle of families begins to access the truth, a struggle that is often carried out against the very institutions in charge of ensuring justice, which they replicate impunity with their internal dynamics. Instead of seeking the truth, the machinery of the administration of justice has the mission of preventing the light from reaching it.

As part of this fight that has been going on for more than seven years, the documentary started its journey with a very special function in which we had the presence of the families of Rubén and Yesenia, with the voices of Nadia’s mother and Mile’s sister. , as well as the demand of Alejandra’s daughter, who from a distance joined this collective cry for truth and justice.

In synergy with the Article 19 team, the lawyers of the Human Rights Action Group, we reiterate that the case is still open and that, to get to the truth, political persecution and human trafficking must be investigated as possible motives; bring to justice the at least two responsible persons who have not been investigated to date, and punish public servants within the then Attorney General’s Office and other institutions responsible for the cover-up.

Later, the collective Memorial Narvarte and Impacta Cine called us in the neighborhood to remember that this open wound is still open to everyone, and affects our community to date; to walk with candles to commemorate the lives of our four compañeras and compañeros through art and spirituality, in order to illuminate the path towards the truth in the middle of the dark night, in which the cry for justice continues to resonate loudly in front of to the department of Luz Saviñón 1909.

Today, the documentary can be seen on Netflix, and despite the Christmas premieres, the posadas and the world premiere, in its early days it managed to position itself as the fourth most watched film in Mexico. Help us raise our voices, reflect on it, recommend it and pay attention to the progress of the case over the next year, because as our dear Patricia, Rubén’s sister, said: “let’s not let the documentary go out, we won’t go out And we will continue to fight.”

For the memory of Alejandra, Mile, Nadia, Yesenia and Rubén #Ju5ticiaNarvarte

* Alberto Arnaut (director), Detective MX and documentary team “In full light: the Narvarte case”.

What we do at Animal Político requires professional journalists, teamwork, dialogue with readers and something very important: independence. You can help us continue. Be part of the team.
Subscribe to Political Animalreceive benefits and support free journalism.

#IAmAnimal

Documentary ‘In full light’: a cry for #Ju5ticiaNarvarte