Mexican activist Gabriel Hernandez Tovar was assassinated in Reynosa, Tamaulipas last week, just days after a Mexican judge removed his court-ordered police protection. Hernandez had previously been kidnapped four times by the Gulf Cartel, one of six Mexican organized crime groups officially designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration.
The killing occurred as Hernandez was driving through a busy boulevard in Reynosa. Gulf Cartel gunmen opened fire, forcing Hernandez’s vehicle off the road and into an irrigation canal. Authorities later recovered his body, but no suspects have been arrested. The attack took place in broad daylight and the shooters escaped without consequence.
Hernandez was widely known for exposing cartel terror in Reynosa, including the Gulf Cartel’s routine use of ransom kidnappings against local business owners. He also collaborated with groups searching for cartel-operated mass graves. Hernandez had directly accused Gulf Cartel commander Mario “La Chispa” Guitian Rosas of orchestrating a campaign of abductions in the area.
Despite the known threats and a 2021 kidnapping that led to court-ordered police protection, Judge Yolanda Vega Marroquin ignored Hernandez’s recent pleas to reinstate his security. Just five days before his murder, Hernandez submitted documents and letters requesting renewed protection — all were denied.
The cartel had kidnapped Hernandez four times. In three cases, his family paid ransom to secure his release. The last abduction, in 2021, ended with his escape, prompting a previous judge to grant him police protection, which Vega later revoked.
The brazen killing of Hernandez underscores the cartel’s impunity and the failure of Mexican authorities to protect citizens under threat. No arrests have been made in connection with the murder, and Tamaulipas officials have yet to comment on the decision to strip his protection.
