Formation | 1 January 2012 |
---|---|
Founder | Anonymous user |
Purpose | Mexican Drug War reporting |
Region served | Tamaulipas, Mexico |
Key people | Internet users |
Website | Valor por Tamaulipas |
Valor por Tamaulipas ("Courage for Tamaulipas") is a Facebook page that covers security updates in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It was founded by an anonymous user on 1 January 2012, and its goal is to share information with other social media users on drug-related violence and risk situations all across the state. With over 515,000 likes on Facebook, Valor por Tamaulipas routinely posts messages and photos of crime scenes on its page. In a country where many journalists have been assassinated for writing about drug trafficking and organized crime, the page survives under anonymity, but it has not been immune to threats.
In early 2013, a Mexican drug trafficking organization issued fliers offering a reward of $600,000 pesos (US$46,000) for anyone that could give out information to locate the administrator of Valor por Tamaulipas or any of his family members. The administrator, however, openly defied the criminal organization's threat through Facebook. His wife and children reportedly fled to the United States after the threats for security reasons, but the citizen journalist stated on the Facebook page that he had decided to stay in Mexico and continue updating at Valor por Tamaulipas. In December 2014, however, the administrator announced his retirement from social media.