Journalist Gerardo Moreno Aranda has died while on assignment in Mexico. He was was 43.
Moreno, who worked as a reporter, producer and anchor for Telemundo and Univision stations in Texas and Nevada, was most recently working for conservative website Breitbart, producing Spanish-language investigative reporting.
“The news lost an excellent reporter and investigator. But more importantly, he was a very good man, an excellent father and son, and the most caring and lovely husband,” former colleague and friend Juan Carlos Osorio tells Media Moves.
“His goal was always to expose the truth, although the term sounds trite, Gerardo was an honest journalist….As a friend, he was attentive… always busy, regardless of the distance, he was present in a text or in a call, even for two minutes. His particular phrase ‘¿Ocupas algo?’ was his way of showing his affection…. He was capable of laughing even in the worst moments, seeing that things would always change for the better. I never heard him complain about any situation.”
Moreno was in Chiapas covering the Haitian migrant caravans and how government officials and criminal organizations are involved in human smuggling throughout Mexico. He was also investigating the spread of the Cartel Jalisco New Generation.
Moreno began working with Breitbart’s Cartel Chronicles project in 2016 under an alias for his protection. Breitbart states “the project allows Mexican journalists and others to write under pseudonyms so they can report truthfully without being murdered by the cartels and corrupt political leaders facing exposure.”
He just recently started reporting at Breitbart under his own name.
According to Breitbart News, Moreno helped report on corrupt Mexican officials and judges, leading to their arrest, and his last published work helped expose a substantial money laundering network allegedly used by a Mexican governor and provided details of potentially embezzled funds and assets from a former Gulf Cartel boss.
Moreno was found dead near Puerto Arista, Chiapas on October 4. Authorities are investigating the cause of his death. Breitbart is reporting that it was an accidental drowning.
Moreno was originally from Monterrey, Nuevo León. Prior to moving to the U.S., he worked as a breaking news video journalist for TV Azteca’s national newscast “Hechos” and as a producer for Televisa Monterrey.
He joined Telemundo San Antonio as a news producer. He was later hired as anchor and producer at Telemundo New Mexico and Lubbock, before moving to Telemundo Las Vegas as executive producer. He also worked as anchor at Univision Corpus Christi and executive producer for KRGV’s Noticias del Valle.
Moreno is survived by his wife Luisana, 8-year-old son and his mother.
Friends have established a GoFundMe page to help his family.