Francisco Arratia

Who was Francisco Arratia?

Francisco Arratia Saldierna was a Mexican journalist and columnist for several Mexican newspapers from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, suffered a heart attack after being badly beaten by a group of men affiliated with the Gulf Cartel. Arratia was beaten to death because of his writings about drug trafficking.

Arraita was the third Mexican journalist killed within a six-month period along the US-Mexican border. In 2004, International PEN featured Arratia, as well as the other two Roberto Javier Mora García and Francisco Ortiz Franco, on its annual Day of the Imprisoned Writer.

On 12 September 2012, the Mexican military captured Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, a.k.a. "El Coss" and a major figure in the Gulf Cartel, who had been linked to Arratia's murder and for whom the United States government had offered a $5 million reward.