Humberto Millán Salazar

Humberto Millán Salazar (6 February 1958 – 24 August 2011), a Mexican journalist, was a radio host of "Sin Ambages" (Translated: Plain Language) on Radio Fórmula and the founder, editor, and columnist for the online newspaper A Discusión in Culiacan, Mexico. Salazar was abducted on 24 August 2011. His body was discovered by authorities the next day.

At the time of his abduction, 13 Mexican journalists had disappeared since 2003. He was the second journalist to be killed in Mexico within a month, the sixth Mexican journalist to have been killed in 2011 at the time of his death, and one of over 70 journalists killed in Mexico since 2000. Local journalists and the director-general of UNESCO said the case illustrated how impunity for the murders of Mexican journalists put working journalists in the country in danger and harmed its citizens access to information.

Death Humberto Millán Salazar was on his way to Radio Fórmula to broadcast his program "Sin Ambages" at approximately 5:56 a.m., Wednesday, 24 August 2011. As he neared the radio station, two SUVs pulled into his path. Four or five men armed with handguns exited the vehicles and ordered Millán into the back of one of the trucks. It is estimated that the exchange took no more than 10 seconds, which authorities said suggested prolonged and meticulous planning.

Just before his death, Millán had printed a sensitive political story about the debt ceiling.

On 2 September, Millán's family gave officials a CD. The CD was left in a safe by Millán with instructions to publicize if something had happened to him. Details of the disc are still unrevealed. It is suspected that Millán's murder is connected to his political opponents. However, the prevalent drug cartel could also be responsible for his death. Crime organizations account for 76 percent of suspected murders while government officials account for 4 percent. In Sinaloa—the state in Mexico where Millán was murdered—operates one of the largest, most dangerous drug cartels: The Sinaloa Cartel. It is suspected, however, that Millán was not kidnapped by this group. Instead, it has been speculated that—due to his critical writing and analysis of local authorities, government, and political infighting—Millán's death may be connected to his political opponents. The motive and of Millán's murder is still under investigation, but friends and colleagues suggest that his political opponents are responsible for his death. Millán, just a day before his abduction, helped to uncover and publicize a political secret within the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Millán printed that the debt ceiling of the state of Sinaloa increased from $200 million, to $35 billion within a matter of months.

Reporters Without Borders also condemned the murder of Millán. They urged authorities to not rule out the possibility that he was murdered in connection with his work. After two months the same organization was frustrated by the impunity in Millán's case and compared it with another murder of two female journalists that occurred one week after his murder—the murder robbery of Ana María Yarce Viveros, founder of Contralínea magazine, and Rocio González Trápaga, freelance journalist—in which authorities successfully arrested two suspects and searched for another.

Career In 1996 Millán founded the online newspaper A Discusión. He also hosted a daily radio broadcast entitled "Sin Ambages" on Radio Fórmula. He also broadcast on Radio UAS, which is a station operated by the Autonomous University of Sinaloa. Millán has also worked for many local newspapers including El Debate and El Sol de Sinaloa.

Personal Humberto attended high school at Escuela Técnica Agropecuaria. After graduating, he went on to attend college at Facultad de Derecho. Millán is survived by his wife and daughter.