Mexican Journalist Recognised by Foundation

MEXICO CITY (AP) — She set out to expose a pedophile ring in Cancun, naming the rich and powerful she says were involved, and became a journalism sensation after she was abducted by police, allegedly at the behest of a state governor.

Lydia Cacho peered into Cancun's underworld and came up with a stinging indictment not only of the alleged abusers, but of powerful friends and politicians she says did little or nothing to stop a prominent businessman accused of luring poor girls in the Caribbean resort to his home so that he and his friends could have sex with them.

Two years after the publication of her book "The Demons of Eden" in Mexico, Cacho's fight against those who would silence her is now before Mexico's Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, she collects a Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women's Media Foundation in New York — a tribute to her bravery in reporting on women's and children's rights.

Lydia Cacho Ribeiro is a Mexican journalist who was imprisoned and tortured after publishing a book on a child pornography and prostitution ring in the country.

 
In her 2004 book, Los Demonios del Eden: el poder detras de la pornografia infantile (The Demons of Eden: the power behind child pornography), Cacho claimed there were links between the pedophile ring and a number of government officials, politicians, businessmen and drug traffickers in Mexico.

 
The publications of the book prompted repeated threats against her life and judicial harassment, and on December 16, 2005, Cacho was arrested and denied access to her lawyer and medicine. She spent the night in prison and was then released on bail of $9,900.

A documentary film documenting the experiences of persecuted Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho Ribiera premiered in Mexico City on Saturday night.

 
The film, which was shown as part of the DocsDF film festival, documents the series of events set in motion following the publication of Cacho’s book, Los Demonios de Eden.

 
Hundreds of people showed up to the premier, which was screened at Cinemex Insurgentes on Saturday evening.