EL SOL DE SINALOA AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN MEXICO IN THE YEAR OF 1972.

Abstract

This article analyses how the newspaper El Sol de Sinaloa reported on the political violence that took place in certain regions of Mexico in 1972. It highlights four causes related to the surge of urban and rural guerrillas in certain parts of the country. In the first instance, the article researches the newspaper’s background, citing that it formed part of a group of media outlets belonging to a member of the army with a strong anti-communist stance. Secondly, the text describes some of the main guerrilla military actions that took place during 1972. Thirdly, the text uses quantitative methods to demonstrate that there was an exponential increase in both the number of media mentions about the guerrilla groups and the commentaries by members of the public who began to write to the newspaper, fueling the debate. Lastly, this article examines how these commentaries portrayed the country’s radical groups – for example how they reported on the Government’s position towards the country’s clandestine organizations.