Slain Mexican journalist Javier Valdez’s widow on Wednesday said that the government tried to spy on her after her husband’s murder using Israeli-made spyware, the latest in a string of accusations of abusive espionage.
Griselda Triana said she had received suspicious messages on her cellphone resembling those reported by prominent journalists and activists who say the government of former Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto targeted them with highly invasive spyware known as Pegasus.
SECURITY THREAT?
“What reason could there be to spy on me? My family and I aren’t criminals, and I’m sure I don’t represent a national security threat,” Triana told a news conference.
Valdez, a correspondent for Agence France-Presse and cofounder of the weekly newspaper Riodoce, was an award-winning expert on drug trafficking and organized crime.
He was shot dead in broad daylight on May 15, 2017, outside Riodoce’s offices in Culiacan, the capital of the violent western state of Sinaloa — a crime that drew international condemnation.
Triana said that in the days after the murder, she received text messages with eye-catching news headlines inviting her to click on a link to read the full story.
Suspicious, she did not follow the links, she said.
According to computer security experts at the press conference, clicking on them would have installed Pegasus on her phone, giving access to her camera, microphone, photos, messages and other data.
Since 2017, analysts have sounded the alarm over a string of similar cases targeting activists and journalists critical of the Pena Nieto administration and also a team of international experts investigating the suspected massacre of 43 students in 2014.
POCKET SPY
Made by a secretive Israeli firm called NSO Group, Pegasus effectively turns a target’s cellphone into a pocket spy.
According to the New York Times, which first broke the story, at least three Mexican federal agencies have purchased about US$80 million of spyware from NSO Group since 2011.
In 2017, Pena Nieto denied spying on non-criminal targets and ordered an investigation, but activists say it has failed to produce results.
“I call on the new government [of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador] to present a report on the acquisition and use of this malware, because all indications are that they are still using it,” Triana said.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS