The Mexican governor of Sinaloa asked the press to change the image of this western state when reporting about drug trafficking and organized crime, reported the radio station Radio Fórmula.
In a press conference, Gov. Mario López Valdez told the press that he started negotiations with U.S. and Mexican authorities to change the name of the drug trafficking organization Sinaloa Cartel to Pacific Cartel, according to Azteca Noticias.
According to the governor, news about drug trafficking negatively impacts the tourism industry of Sinaloa, since cruise ships have canceled their stops at the Mazatlán port, which is located in the state of Sinaloa, reported the newspaper Noroeste.
Sinaloa is the state where the criminal organization of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the most powerful drug lord in the world, was started, according to Forbes magazine. In August 2011, political journalist Humberto Millán was killed in the state's capital of Culiacán, and the case remains unsolved.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
