Zeta (magazine) - Blancornelas Assassination Attempt

Blancornelas Assassination Attempt

In 1997 in Tijuana, Blancornelas was ambushed and wounded by gunmen of the Tijuana Cartel after he published a photo of the drug lord Ramón Arellano Félix. Blancornelas was nearly killed when the attackers opened fire on his car, wounding him in the abdomen and killing his driver and bodyguard, Luis Valero Elizalde, who died protecting him and managed to kill one of the shooters. Blancornelas suffered complications from the injury for the rest of his life. In the attack, Blancornelas' car was hit more than 180 times, but only four bullets penetrated the journalist's body. Valero, however, was hit 38 times.

The nature of Blancornelas' work forced him to live under a "self-imposed home arrest," only traveling to his workplace and home with multiple Special Forces bodyguards from the Mexican Army, who accompanied him everywhere. While previous attacks on journalists had received little coverage, Blancornelas' assassination attempt made it to the front page of most newspapers in Mexico, and was covered on television and radio. The attempt also fueled international attention, as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union Tribune, and National Public Radio covered it extensively. Due to the public outcry, the Mexican authorities decided to report the attack to the Office of the General Prosecutor, which had greater resources than the state authorities.

After Blancornelas recovered from his wounds, he returned to publishing for the Zeta magazine. The Blancornelas family erected a huge brick wall in their one-story house to increase their security measures; outside the house, a squadron of military men guarded the family, while some others protected the Zeta offices. As of 1998, the top editors of the newspaper, along with Blancornelas' three sons, were under guard by the authorities at all times.