Mexico: Twitter User Questioned Over Controversial Tweet

On November 10, 2011, Spameo Flores (@mareoflores) published this tweet:

No salía tan temprano del trabajo desde que se cayó la avioneta de Mouriño. Anden con cuidado, funcionarios voladores.

I hadn't left my job so early since Mouriño's aircraft crashed. Be careful, flying government officials.

On November 11, the Mexican Interior Secretary Fernando Blake Mora died in a helicopter accident at the border between the State of Mexico and the Federal District. His death was followed by mourning among the highest government circles and a political truce in the midst of the budget discussion for 2012.

Many asked themselves if Mareo Flores had tweeted as a joke, or if he really knew something. Yesterday, the Attorney General of Mexico (PGR in Spanish), interrogated him [es] arguing they needed to exhaust “all an every single line of investigation”.

When people learned about this, a wave of online protests from Mexican Twitter users expanded, along with incriminations against the government that has wanted to make clear that the accident was caused by a human mistake.

This fact, added to the recent attempt of censorship by the governor of the State of Veracruz, has started to create a feeling of insecurity to tweet, as expressed by Miguel C (@mikescobedo):

#mareoflores ya hasta tengo miedo twitear #NoMiento

#mareoflores now I'm even afraid to tweet #NoMiento

Besides, this creates a precedent that worried Twitter users about what the government entities are doing with the information of their citizens, at Jesús Robles Maloof (@roblesmaloof) stated:

¿De donde obtuvo la PGR información sobre la identidad de la persona que utiliza la cuenta de #MareoFlores y de su domicilio?

Where did the PGR get the information of the identity of the person who uses the account #MareoFlores and his address?

Journalist Mario Campos (@mariocampos) shared his concerns on the issue:

Delicada la detención de #MareoFlores -del que urge info- como imprudente su bio como “ángel de la muerte de panistas voladores”

The detention of #MareoFlores is delicate – on the side of who's looking for info – as it is also reckless on his bio where he describes himself as “death angel of flying conservatives”

The fact, considering the atmosphere of violence in which the country currently lives, some like Juno (@voyporcigarros) question the logic of this climate:

En México puedes matar y vender droga, pero si tuiteas eres considerado una amenaza. #MareoFlores

In Mexico you can kill and sell drugs, but if you tweet you are consider a threat. #MareoFlores

There are still doubts in the air like, can authorities detain someone without an arrest warrant? That's how Geraldina GV (@geraldinasplace) puts it:

Tuit o no tuit. La cosa es que ninguna autoridad te puede detener sin una órden de aprehensión. #MareoFlores

Tweet or not tweet. The issue is that no authority can arrest without a warrant. #MareoFlores

There is no doubt that these news will continue to be in the center of the debate during the days to come due to the sensitivity that the issue is generating, but among Twitter users, the common feeling is indignation, as expressed by Un mal necesario [A Necessary Evil] (@Frank_lozanodr):