From: JOURNALISM IN THE AMERICAS Blog | University of Texas at Austin
By Lorenzo Holt
The transnational investigative journalism series “Império das Cinzas” (“Empire of Ashes”), about illegal cigarette trafficking in South America, was announced winner of the Global Shining Light Award on Oct. 10.
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The investigative series out of Latin America involved the tracking of containers, trips to border zones, and the investigation of 60 different companies “and succeeded in demonstrating that the trafficking of Paraguayan cigarettes in the so-called triple frontier (Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina) exceeded, in volume, that of coca and is about to surpass it in value,” according to El Tiempo.
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The reports covered everything from trafficking routes, countermeasures by police, a $2 million contraband bust, and the extent of government involvement. In one of the series’ articles, called “A Government Business,” the journalists accused the Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes of beign a leading player in the trade. They alleged that Cartes’ company is indirectly involved in financing violent groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC for its acronym in Spanish) and the paramilitaries. The series also explored the Paraguayan government’s attitude toward policies against smuggling.
