On 3 March 2017, Rolando Arellano Sánchez, a member of the narcocorrido band Contacto, was shot and killed by cartel members in Tijuana city.

Online media platforms continue to come under fire for taking down content, including artistic works, seemingly arbitrarily or unevenly.

The Constituent Assembly of the Mexican capital has embarked on a project to create its first constitution and has approved a new article in which art, culture and education will be protected and granted by authorities. The article states that cultural diversity and freedom of expression must be respected and …

A Senator and a parliamentarian both called for hardening restrictions on the airing schedules of “narcoseries” – television series in which the main topics are drug kingpins and the crimes they’re responsible for, reported El Economista on 31 October 2016. Senator Zoé Robledo and parliamentarian Lía Limón, both presidents of …

The Museo Nacional de la Acuarela ‘Alfredo Guati Rojo’ in Mexico City has refused to display a painting by Colombian artist Darío Ortiz Robledo, considering it “too hard and offensive for some sensibilities”, due to its mix of nudity and religious symbols, reported Mexican newspaper La Jornada on 8 March …

The governors of the states of Sinaloa and Coahuila are imposing restrictions on public performances of narcocorridos and movimiento alterado artists, joining the state of Chihuahua, which was the first state in the newest round to ban narcocorridos beginning in 2015. There are now three states in Mexico imposing limitations …

After midnight of 17 November 2015, the narcocorridos band Los 4 Herederos was attacked in the town of Taray in the state of Jalisco. One of the musicians was killed. An armed commando in three trucks intercepted the band’s pickup truck and violently kidnapped the members of the band as …

The Chihuahua city council has banned the performance and distribution of a genre of music known as ‘narcocorridos’ – songs whose lyrics are inspired by drug trafficking and organised crime bosses – within city limits. The new law was implemented shortly after a shooting at a narcocorrido concert in the …

Corruption; the control of the media; impunity; censorship and its counterpart self-censorship; the role and responsibilities of a writer as citizen; and the vital importance that freedom of expression plays in challenging the status quo. At ‘Free The Word!’, an event held on 30 January 2014 at Hay Festival Cartagena, …

In July 2013 alone, four musical acts have been fined for violating a law prohibiting the performance of songs in the genre – one which often heralds the exploits of drug cartel members. The latest target of such a fine was Alfredo Ríos, better known as ‘El Komander’, who held …