Nayeli Cruz photographer from EL PAIS wins the National Journalism

Nayeli Cruz, photographer from EL PAÍS, wins the National Journalism Award for her images of those mutilated by “The Beast”.

Nayeli Cruz, photographer for EL PAÍS México, was awarded the National Journalism Award in the photography category this Wednesday for her work “The migrants mutilated by The Beast”. The jury highlighted the “technique and sensitivity” with which Cruz portrayed the people who lost part of their bodies during the difficult train journey to the US border.

The report, which Cruz prepared with journalist Carlos Salinas Maldonado, recounts testimonies from migrants like Santiago Álvarez, a Honduran whose right leg was run over by the train and whom Cruz was able to capture with a smile on his face while showing off his artificial leg .

EL PAÍS photojournalist Nayeli Cruz at the newspaper's offices on Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City.EL PAÍS photojournalist Nayeli Cruz in the newspaper’s offices on Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City. Inaki Malvido

This image contrasts with that of Evert Rodríguez, whose left leg was amputated by the beast and who sits in his wheelchair with a sad expression. The National Journalism Award jury highlighted Cruz’s ability to capture migrants’ emotions as diverse as “a smile or a gesture of deep concern or sadness” in 16 images. For the committee, the work “shows the human side, revealing various issues surrounding family, rehabilitation, health and emotional coping” of these people who tried to reach the US border in La Bestia.

The journalistic career award went to Felipe Cobián (77 years old), a reporter originally from Jalisco who founded El Diario de Guadalajara and covered the assassination of PRI presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio in 1994. The best report went to seven journalists from the Journalism and Public Opinion Laboratory (POPLAB) for “It’s not collateral damage, it’s our threatened future.” This joint investigation tells of the experiences of children and young people who have fallen into organized crime.

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