Adela Navarro Bello
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Adela Navarro Bello (born 1968 in
Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...
,
Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...
, Mexico) is a Mexican journalist and the general director of the Tijuana weekly magazine ''
Zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; , , classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived from the Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter zay ...
''. ''Zeta'', which was founded in 1980, is one of the few publications that frequently reports on organized crime, drug trafficking, and corruption in Mexico's border cities. Multiple editors and reporters working for ''Zeta'' have been murdered, including Héctor Félix Miranda, co-founder of ''Zeta'', and co-editor Francisco Ortiz Franco.


Early life

Navarro's passion for writing dates back to her childhood, spent in a house filled with books. Her father, a rug seller, used to read at least four newspapers a day. In college, she majored in communications. During her time there,
Jesús Blancornelas J. Jesús Blancornelas (November 14, 1936 – November 23, 2006) was a Mexican journalist who co-founded the Tijuana-based ''Zeta'' magazine, known for its reporting on corruption and drug trafficking. His work encompassed extensive research on ...
, a well-known Tijuana investigative journalist, came to lecture in the college, and Navarro asked him for a job covering politics for his magazine ''Zeta''. Navarro was hired in 1990, and Blancornelas became her mentor.


Journalism career

Prior to assuming the directorship of ''Zeta'', Navarro worked as a reporter for the magazine, covering the
Chiapas conflict The Chiapas conflict (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Conflicto de Chiapas'') consisted of the Zapatista uprising, 1994 Zapatista uprising, the 1995 Zapatista Crisis, 1995 Zapatista crisis, and the subsequent tension between the Federal government o ...
in 1994. She also contributed to a column to the magazine, "Sortilegioz" ("Charms"). Though her early reporting focused on Mexico's long-time ruling
Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party (, , PRI) is a List of political parties in Mexico, political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 as the National Revolutionary Party (, PNR), then as the Party of the Mexican Revolution (, PRM) and fin ...
(PRI), she also began to report on corruption in the National Action Party (PAN) after its members assumed office. In 1994, Navarro became the first woman on the paper's five-person editing staff. Blancornelas died of cancer in 2006, leaving control of the magazine to Navarro and his son, César René Blanco Villalón. Wearied by the deaths of several of his editors, Blancornelas had begun to doubt ''Zeta'''s ability to foster change, and had considered closing the magazine with his death, but Navarro and Blanco persuaded him to let the magazine continue. As the magazine's new director, Navarro continued Blancornelas' tradition of high-risk reporting on organized crime, stating that "Every time a journalist self-censors, the whole society loses". She oversaw an investigation of former Tijuana mayor
Jorge Hank Rhon Jorge Hank Rhon (born January 28, 1956) is a Mexican businessman and owner of Mexico's largest sports betting company, ''Grupo Caliente''. He served from December 2004 to February 2007 as the president of the municipality of Tijuana. He is th ...
, whose guards had murdered ''Zeta'' columnist and co-founder Héctor Félix Miranda. Following Hank's arrest in 2011 on illegal weapons charges, the magazine published the details and serial numbers of the 88 guns found in his home; the issue sold out, and the number of page views caused the magazine's website to crash. Though Hank was released for lack of evidence, Navarro continued to press for his arrest for involvement in the Félix murder. ''Zeta'' was criticized in 2009 and 2010 for being too sympathetic to the
Mexican Army The Mexican Army () is the combined Army, land and Air Force, air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National Defense o ...
and failing to cover its alleged human rights abuses; the magazine named an army general its "person of the year" each year. In January 2010, US law enforcement notified Navarro of death threats from the
Tijuana Cartel The Tijuana Cartel (, ), formerly also known as the Arellano-Félix Cartel (, CAF), is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, the cartel once was described as "one of the biggest a ...
, causing the Mexican government to assign her seven soldiers as bodyguards. One month later, ten people were arrested for plotting a grenade attack against ''Zeta'''s offices.


Awards and recognition

In 2007, Navarro won an International Press Freedom Award from the
Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...
. The award is given for journalists who show courage in defending press freedom in the face of attacks, threats or imprisonment. CPJ also produced a short video about Navarro Bello and ''Zeta''. She is also the recipient of a 2011
International Women's Media Foundation The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF), located in Washington, D.C., is an organization working internationally to elevate the status of women in the media. The IWMF has created programs to help women in the media develop practical so ...
Courage in Journalism award. In 1999, Navarro was commissioned by the U.S. Department of State to undertake a six-city U.S. tour with the theme of "migration". She has also been awarded the 2008 Prize Ortega y Gasset, given by the country of Spain; the 2009 International Prize of Freedom of the Press, given by Editorial Perfil, Argentina; and the Anna Politkovskaja Prize, Festival Internazionale a Ferrara, Italia in 2009. In 2010, the
Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism, housed under the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, Columbia, is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in of journalis ...
awarded her its
Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism Missouri (''see pronunciation'') is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it borders Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to the south and Oklahoma, Kansas, a ...
. In 2012, she was named by
Foreign Policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...
magazine to the FP Top 100 Global Thinkers. The following year, she was listed among the "50 Most Powerful Women in Mexico" by ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' magazine. Navarro and ''Zeta'' are profiled in the
Bernardo Ruiz Bernardo Ruiz Navarrete (born 8 January 1925) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer who won the General classification, overall and King of the Mountains, climbers competition at the 1948 Vuelta a España. He went on to become the ...
documentary ''Reportero''.


In popular culture

Andrea Nuñez's character, played by Luisa Rubino in season three of Narcos: Mexico, is loosely based on Navarro.


References


External links


''Zeta'' official websiteAdela Navarro Bello
on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

Adela Navarro Bello
on
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Adela Navarro Bello
at
Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...

''Reportero''
, a
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
documentary on ''Zeta'''s history {{DEFAULTSORT:Navarro Bello, Adela Mexican women journalists Mexican people of Italian descent 1968 births Writers from Tijuana Living people