Gerardo Reyes: the journalist who said "no" to "Chapo" Guzmán

Gerardo Reyes he answers his cell phone I knew the voice from the other side of the phone. He warned her that he was ordered to kill him. The directive came from a powerful drug dealer he was investigating. Not to mention the fate of the Colombian journalist, the killer who was going to kill him was his source.

His life it could be a Netflix series. Until now, he's never been the protagonist, but collaborated on the screenplay of "El Chapo". His professional career has been devoted to revealing the stories of the most dangerous drug traffickers in Latin America.. He investigated the Medellín cartel of Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria to the formidable "Chapo" Guzmán. El Chapo is currently awaiting a sentence in the United States, which could be a life sentence, after the "judgment of the centuries" enters its final phase. He is accused of having trafficked more than 155 tons of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine. Its silhouette is even more relevant thanks to the series "Narcos" at the box office. Even the actor who plays it, Alejandro Edda, went to see him at the court.

(Also read: the actress who seduced Chapo: "I was afraid to die")

Reyes He had a rare privilege. Say no to "Chapo". On one occasion, he received a confidential call informing him that the drug dealer had accepted the proposal to be questioned by him. "I got excited and worried at the same time," he said in a conversation with NEWS. Not out of fear but because of the condition that he had put: edit the report after editing. "I do not accept that or a president," he replied by dismissing the interview. who was then the most wanted person on the planet.

A few days later, he learned that the "Chapo" was reunited with the Mexican actress Kate del Castillo to plot the movie about the life of the drug dealer. There were several meetings that resulted in a case. "It was an episode of my life that I do not regret, it was an experience that I will keep in myself and that will last forever. I regret not having followed my instinct in many ways ", said the protagonist of "The Queen of the South".

What followed was a well-known story. The report was directed by actor Sean Penn, during a controversial and played encounter that was subsequently published in The Rolling Stone. For this interview, Guzmán fell captive thanks to the contact that the Mexican attorney had with the film crew.

Reyes managed to conduct an impeccable investigation at Sinaloa on the management of the Mexican cartel. For this, he traveled with two colleagues in the heart of the kingdom of "Chapo" in western Mexico, where mountain villages abound, crossed by large jungles and dirt roads. During his tour, he was able to find several hotels in the name of various personalities and ghost companies used to launder the fortune of the Mexican narco, estimated at more than 3 billion dollars. One of the bloodiest men you can remember. Isaías Valdez Ríos, aka "Memin", former member of the Sinaloa Cartel series, explained how two victims had been tortured. "For hours, Guzman hit them with a trunk. They had all the broken bones, they could not move. " Then, on the order of the narco leader, they were placed in a bonfire to be burned alive. While the cries of suffering were heard, Chapo suddenly finished them in the temple with the cry of "A chingar you madre".

information: How does a journalist think that at some point he has to choose between his life and his work?
Gerardo Reyes: Journalists are more useful alive than in a cemetery inside a mausoleum of heroes. I do not believe that a story is worth the life of anyone, neither the journalist nor the source. In some investigations, the journalist feels an imminent danger. It's time to take a break from survival.

information: How is this "survival break" done?
Reyes: For example, You can share information with other media, which dilutes the responsibility of the original journalist. There are also colleagues who think that they should go to the end, regardless of the high risk of losing their lives. This is another respectable option.

In his broad trajectory, he got the prices that any journalist dreamed of. He is the first Colombian to get the Pulitzer. That's thanks to a survey he conducted with two colleagues at the Miami Herald in 1999. They revealed the Florida state election fraud that ended up costing the mayor of Miami dearly. Also orHe has won two Emmys, the María Moors Cabot, the Ortega y Gbadet, an IRE Awards, the Peabody and the Planeta Journalism Award.

information: Why do you think the case of José Luis Cabezas Was he there for so long in society?
Reyes: The case of José Luis broke the dam of a barrage overflowing with indignation at a very dark moment in the history of Argentina. In this homicide, the power of a mafia of politicians and businessmen who ruled at that time was exposed unscrupulously.

(Also read: 22 years without José Luis Cabezas: the gift of his tormentors)

Reyes had the opportunity to meet in Miami the international ramifications of Cuban mafias Ramón Puentes, a former luxury car salesman in the American city, accused of money laundering and cocaine trafficking in Argentina. He also investigated the Antonini Wilson suitcase and the ghost contracts of the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. In 1992, he was responsible for covering the trial of Panamanian General Manuel Antonio Noriega. He also discovered millionaire accounts related to Humberto Ortega, a former Sandinista general and brother of the President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega. Currently, with his 61 yearsconceives the research group of the North American chain Univisión, continue the hunt for drug traffickers. A man who did not even fear "Chapo" Guzmán.

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