User:Crtew/Óscar Martínez (journalist)

Óscar Martínez, (ca. 1983?) is a Salvadoran investigative journalist and co-founder of the investigative unit, Sala Negra (Black Room), for the online newsmagazine, El Faro (The Lighthouse). His award-winning journalistic works are centered on the gang violence and organized crime found in Mexico and Central America and the atrocities Central Americans endure during migration through Mexico. His articles and books have given United States readers insight into the plight of Central Americans.

Personal
Very little has been published regarding the personal life of Óscar Martínez. What is known is that he has received multiple death threats following his exposés on gang violence, organized crime, and unauthorized killings by the police in El Salvador. In an interview with the Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ), he revealed that he has installed a security system complete with panic buttons in his home in El Salvador and that he has become apprehensive about taking his daughter to public parks.

Career
Martínez began writing at the age of 17 and worked as a freelance reporter in Mexico until he joined in 2008, the online newspaper, El Faro (The Lighthouse) in El Salvador. He co-founded their investigative unit, “Sala Negra” (Black Room) which focuses their writings on organized crime, gangs and police corruption. Martinez, along with the other investigative team members, have dedicated much time and energy into establishing sources in order to report on the problems plaguing Central America while exposing those who help to create and maintain those problems. Establishing and maintaing these valuable sources has proved difficult due to El Salvador government's inability to consistently protect those who have given testimony against the criminals.

In 2009, Martínez, published a series of articles on El Faro about his first-hand experiences while traveling with Central Americans migrating across Mexico to the U.S. border. He devoted three years documenting the brutality and dangers the migrants encounter during their migration from Central America, across Mexico to the U.S. border. These series of articles were later compiled into a book written in Spanish and entitled, Los migrantes que no importan (the migrants who don’t matter). In 2013, Los migrantes que no importan was translated into English and entitled, The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail. This volume, narrated by Martinez as an engaged witness, brought the Central American migrant plight to the attention of its U.S. readers. In addition, the second portion of The Beast describes the anguish experienced by Latin Americans who are deported from the U.S.

In 2015, Martinez co-authored an article for El Faro, “Police Massacre in San Blas.” He investigated eyewitness accounts, unofficial and official police accounts and forensic reports to reveal that on March 26, 2015 at a farm outside of San Salvador, a reported police raid and shoot-out between police and supposed gang members was in fact an execution style slaying by police. Two of the eight killed were not gang members, but a 16 year old girl and a 21 year old farm hand. He and his co-authors received death threats after the release of the article and for their protection temporarily left their country.

“Killers on a Shoestring: Inside Gangs of El Salvador,” is an article co-authored by Martinez on the financial situation of one of El Salvador’s largest gangs, Mara Salvatrucha (aka MS-13). The article revealed that even though MS-13 has had a key role in El Salvador becoming the murder capital of the world it operates on a remarkable low financial budget when compared to the large gangs and organized crime syndicates of Mexico and Japan.

Martinez' second book published in English (2016), A History of Violence: Living and Dying in Central America is a compilation of articles he has authored on the problems of violence, corruption and selective freedom from punishment in Central America. The book's main focus is to illustrate why Central Americans risk their lives and flee country.

Notable works of journalism
Books

The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail (English translation 2013) tells of Martinez’ first-hand experiences while riding along the top of cargo trains with migrants across Mexico towards the United States border and the horrific encounters along the way.

A History of Violence: Living and Dying in Central America (2016) is an assembly of Martinez’ articles written on the subject of Central America’s deadly history of violence while citing the violence as the reason why so many Central American’s are willing to face the hardships of migrating to the U.S. border.

Articles

"Making a Deal With Murderers" was written by Martinez in 2013 and questions why the murder rate in El Salvador abruptly began dropping in 2012. This expose charges the government with having made a deal with gangs to reduce the number of killings.

"Police Massacre in San Blas" was a high-profile investigative article co-authored by Martinez for the online newspaper El Faro (2015) which reported that the March 26, 2015 shoot out between police and Mara Salvatucha gang members was in fact an execution-style killing of some of the dead.

"The Macho Cops of Honduras," published on March 7, 2014 describes the problem of police corruption in Honduras and how the public is bullied and threatened into submission.

== Context ==

The violence and corruption in the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador has provided the foundation of Martinez’ journalistic works. Central America is home to a wide range of crimes, including gang violence, kidnapping, human trafficking and police and government dishonesty and exploitation. El Salvador alone has the highest murder rate of any country in the world at 115.9 deaths per 100,000 people in 2015. It is these crimes that have also motivated hundreds of thousands to migrate to the U.S. border by clinging to the tops of freight trains speeding along treacherous mountain trails. Martinez' in order to educate the readers and to capture the details of the plight of Central Americans living in a country inundated with horrific crimes has risked his own life by joining the citizen's on their journeys and exposing crime and corruption in his articles and books.

Impact
Oscar Martinez’ reliable investigations and published works have presented his readers with a first-hand narrative of the harshness and dangers of Central America. His writings go beyond the usual political and economic factors impacting Central America to the heart of the violence and corruption. As a public service, Martinez has helped his readers see that the those trying to immigrate into the U.S. are not stereotypical drug runners. His articles that challenge government and police press releases have helped to created discontent and a closer look has been taken at possible corruption. As an example, after the release of his article, “ Police Massacre in San Blas.,” an investigation was initiated by the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office.

Awards
Fernando Benitez National Journalism Prize (Mexico 2008). Human Rights Prize at the Jose Simeon Canas Central American University (El Salvador 2009). WOLA-Duke Book Award (The Beast 2014). International Press Freedom Award (CPJ 2016). Maria Moors Cabot Award (Columbia University School of Journalism 2016).

Temporary urls

 * npr1
 * npr2
 * texasobserver
 * clasesdeperiodismo
 * cpjaward
 * cpjspeech
 * pri
 * vice
 * readtowritestories
 * nytimesOct2013
 * nytimesDec2013
 * nytimesMar2014
 * nytimesNov2016
 * newyorker
 * huckmagazine